Heirs: Part 1
by Schmidtinho
Summary: I just can't wait to be king. I don't want to go to paradise.  This story is about Simba and his family, how they lived during their childhood, how they endured Scars reign and more. Rated K , might go higher later on.
1. Born the same, yet worlds apart

**DISCLAIMER:** Hello guys!

Well… here it is. My first try of a Lion King based fanfic.

First of all, a big thanks to Nal-Nay, Meowx93 and Th3Gh0stWr1ter for writing really entertaining stories. And for inspiring me to write my own story.

About me… this isn't the first attempt of me writing a fanfic (though it is the first take on the lion king) I wrote a handful in the past, but none of them ever went public, except one which was structured like an episodically TV series. I had it written down 22 of 32 "Episodes". But like a lot of shows, I cancelled it after the pilot.

Now to this story…

I do not really have a plan how much of TLK 1 I will show in the first part. This is as a three part structured fic. At first, I planned it as a single long story. But then I realized just how much built up I had to do to get everything to the status I wanted until we get to the original part that is running through my mind.

As you already noticed, English is not my native language. But writing it in my home language would only mean for you to not understand it. So I hope you can excuse some of the grammar mistakes (definitely not all of them).

Also apologies to Th3Gh0stWr1ter and Jhonny2b, the first two chapters may read a lot like the ones you did in your stories. I just realized when it was already to late. I never intend to steal any material from anybody. You may notice some references to TV Shows and Movies, but I would never intentionally steal from any fanfic writer.

By the way: I don't own the Lion King or any of its franchise products. All of it belongs to Disney.

… away with the story.

**Heirs **

Part 1: I just can't wait to be king; I don't want to go to paradise.

Chapter 1: born the same, yet worlds apart

"_Nants ingonyama bagithi baba"_

It hailed through the beautiful landscape that was the African savannah. The sun began to rise and introduced the flora and fauna to a new day with its irresistible heat. Rhinos, meerkats and antelopes lifted their heads and bodies towards the sky and starred into the distance.

"_Nants ingonyama bagithi baba"_

_Sithi uhhmm ingonyama_

_Ingonyama_

_Siyo Nqoba _

_Ingonyama_

_Ingonyama nengw' enamabala _

Huge swarms of flamingos wandered through the sky directly over a group of elephants. Antilopes jumped through over the ground overlaid with fog. Giraffes wandered over the now sun filled hills.

_From the day we arrive on this planet_

_And blinking, step into the sun_

_There's more to see than can ever be seen_

_More to do than can ever be done_

Herds of Zebras marched along as colonies of ants carried leaves over tree branches.

_There is far too much to take in here_

_More to find than can ever be found_

_But the sun rolling high_

_Through the sapphire sky_

_Keeps great and small on the endless round_

The herds of elephants kept moving as they were surrounded by peacocks and other various birds. It now came clear in which direction they were going. They all headed into the direction of a huge rock formation which enthroned like a castle over the mostly even landscape. This was where the masses of animals were going. For this wasn't exactly another normal day in the animal kingdom.

It was the presentation of the new born prince of the pride lands.

All the different kinds of animals assembled in front of the giant rock. Monkeys were standing beside giraffes; cheetahs took their places beside zebras. And mice right beside elephants. A blue hornbill flew directly over the massive assemblage directly in overseeing the scene with a smile. It landed on what looked like a long ledge. Right at the feet of a majestic looking lion with golden fur and a crimson red mane. The bird vowed to him and received an approval nod and smile. The sky was now filled with a blanket of clouds which only occasionally let sunlight through its gaps.

_It's the circle of life_

_And it moves us all_

_Through despair and hope_

_Through faith and love_

_Till we find our place_

_On the path unwinding_

_In the circle_

_The circle of life_

In the middle of the crowd opened a small alley as the animals stepped slowly aside. A small stroke of sunlight shined upon a mandrill making his way through the assemblage. In his hands he held a staff which was decorated with strange looking fruits. The baboon made his way up the boulders coming face to face with the waiting lion. As the two met, they greeted each other with a friendly hug.

They now paid their attention to a lioness lying down just a few feet away from them. In the embrace of her front legs, she held a small bundle of hair which she licked with her paws. The ball of fur turned around and revealed itself to be a small cub. The mandrill smiled at it and waived his staff like a rattle over the cubs head. It instantly started swinging its paws at it before the baboon removed the stick. He than raised one of the fruits, he brought along, into the air and broke it in half. With one of his hands, he took some of the juice and stroke it over the cubs' forehead. He than took some dirt from the ground and distributed it over its head again. The dust caused the cub to sneeze and made its parents grow and adored smile while they nuzzled.

After that the baboon picked up the little lion and carried it forward. He made his way to the end of the ledge as all animals held up their breaths in anticipation. With a final smile he lifted the cub into the air and just in time before another stroke of sunlight came through the blanket of clouds and settled directly on the cub and the mandrill. All the animals present burst out in joy and amazement. The noise was just indescribable and ear-battering.

The lion and the lioness joined the two on the side and gave out their roar to show their dominance. Seconds later the rest of the pride, which lied in the background started to join in and marked the end of the ceremony. It definitely wasn't a day like any other in the pride lands.

* * *

><p>It took a while until the assemblage completely dissembled. But when it finally did, the mandrill already made its way back to what he called his home. A huge acacia tree in the middle of the veldt. Clouds could be seen in the distance which showed a thunderstorm approaching anytime soon. As he wandered up to the tree, his eyes drifted towards a small den just a few meters away from his home. It was just enough for a small single animal to fit in. No one would suggest that it would be used by any animal in the pride lands. The baboon let his head sunk a little as he spotted movement inside the den and walked closer.<p>

"What is wrong?" he stated as he lifted his head inside. "Did yu' hav' anoder fight today."

"Go away!" A small fragile yet angry voice responded from inside the den.

"Yu' know every animal of the kingdom was at pride rock dis' mournin'. It would hav' been de perfect opportunity for yu' to set foot in here." The monkey went on. "I mean—yu' finally could hav' met the new prince."

Slowly the shadow inside the den moved and the figure inhabiting it stepped forward. It was another male lion cub, yet older than the prince from earlier on. His fur was of a pale shade of cream but had some sort of a dirty style to it. Even for his young age, his body already seemed to be torn up. A piece from his left ear was missing and a small scar wandered down behind the ear on the same side.

"So? What?" He replied with a tired expression on his face. "It's not like they want me anyway." He continued. "Let alone the fact that I don't care!"

The mandrill smiled even though it was forced. "Mwehu! Yu' hav' been aroun' here only for a month now. King Mufasa took yu' in because of how helpless yu' wer'. Yet yu' started getting' into trouble wit' odder cubs and members of the kingdom every day. Yu' got to start getting' in touch wit' em' or else yu' gonna' end up alone again."

The cub growled lightly and walked back into the den "Sometimes- I wonder if that's a bad or a good thing!"

* * *

><p>Life in the pride lands continued. The days became weeks, and the weeks formed a month. The young lion that once was lifted over the animals' heads grow into a very playful cub, even in this early stage. His parents soon learned to pay attention to every of his doings, and of course to keep him out of trouble.<p>

A new day dawned and as usual—the young prince got up early and padded up towards the mouth of the den which his pride called their home. He took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh mourning air as he was ready to start the new day.

"And just where do you think your going young man?" A deep but yet caring and warmth voice called out to him.

_Busted!_ He thought. With his ears dropping to the side of his head, he turned around to see his mother smirking slyly at him. "Uhm—nowhere—I was just going to—to take a walk and a drink." He smiled back with a wink to the pale lioness.

"You know that your father and I don't want you to sneak out the den this early and alone yet." The queen smiled but gave him a good idea of what she really wanted him to do. It was almost as if she tried to stare him down. _Stay out of trouble mister!_ "But if you're _really_ thirsty. I'll escort you down there."

"Thanks mom!" The cub smiled. But inside his head, he cursed. _Aww man, I got to think of better comebacks. Or else mom will always get the best of me every time._

Mother and son padded down a small sideway form pride rock as the pride lands slowly came back to life. Fog still lay upon the grass which, in combination with the warm African sunlight, gave up a beautiful sight. It didn't take long for them to arrive at a small waterhole nearby. The young prince immediately sank his tongue into the cooling liquid and let it run through his throat. His mother watched him from the side as she rested her head on her front paws.

"I don't know what you were about to do Simba— but remember that today is the day, we are supposed to spend the day together. There are other cubs in the pride I would like you to meet." Already she knew her son so well that she could tell that he was up to no good. But today was the first day of him socializing with the other cubs. However she held some concern over the idea. Sarabi didn't have the impression that her son would have problems bonding with the others. But she held concern about what the other cubs would think of him. She remembered when Mufasa and scar met her and her friends for the first time. "Are you finished?" She then asked the golden furred cub who lifted his head and nodded.

"Yes mom!"

The day went by and soon young Simba and his mother left their den to wander of to the back side of pride rock where several lionesses lay down all carrying cubs inside their mouths and on their backs. As Simba came around the corner and spotted the scene in a few yards away from him. He felt an unpleasant feeling growing inside his stomach. He felt nervous.

And it wasn't the kind of nervousness he had when making up an excuse or a story to not make his parents to become mad at him. This was the real deal.

_Oh my god, what if I end up making as total idiot out of myself? What if they don't like me? What king am I going to become if everyone hates me? _It hammered through his mind. This was a feeling he was really unfamiliar with. He usually was used for being true and confident. Some might even call it cocky.

Normally, a cub was kept with its mother for the first weeks. It barely leaves the mothers side until it is safe to appear alongside the rest of the pride. For Simba—this day was today. His eyes wandered back to the group of young and adult lions that by now had locked their eyes on him and his mother. A lot of them held adored smiles on their faces, some of them even bowed a little. The young prince sat down right beside Sarabi who greeted the rest of the lionesses and introduced her son to all of them. Simba on the other hand looked around and spotted two male cubs wrestling in the distance.

_That looks like fun! Well… here goes nothing! _He thought and padded over to them. "Hey guys! What's up?" he greeted and asked at the same time, the two cubs stopped and now glared at the newcomer with irritated eyes.

"Hey—uhm… can we help you?" One of them replied and got back on his feet. His fur was of a dark brown, while the underside had a pale golden colour. Giving the size of him, he seemed to be at the exact same age then Simba, maybe just a few days younger.

"Yeah! The game that you two played looks interesting. I wondered if you would let me join you."

"Who are you?" A calm yet declining voice came from the side.

Simba turned around towards the other cub who answered his request. At first, he thought he was looking into a reflection of himself and gasped. But indeed, the cub he looked at could have easily been his twin brother. The facial expressions, the size the body physiques… all were the same. The only thing that set them apart was the fur. The other cubs' fur was darker in tone. Also the tuft on his head was a bit bigger then Simbas.

"The name's Simba! What's yours?" The young prince replied and lifted up his chest in pride. _Sure they heard of the future king, time to impress them._

"Tojo! That's Chumvi!" The Simba look-a-like replied. His voice seemed the least not impressed by the name.

"So… can I join?"

He looked towards Chumvi and raised his eyebrows. "Sorry! This is only a game for two!" Simba let his ears hang down a bit and his mouth drop open a little.

"Come on guys! It will go easy on you. After all… _I_ am the future KING!" He said with a cocky smile and lifted up his muzzle with closed eyes.

The one called Chumvi just rolled his eyes with a small annoyance and went two steps forward. "We got who you are. Don't think that this would impress me. Just because you think you will be king doesn't mean that we have to let you play with us." He snapped back.

In just a few seconds, Simbas heart dropped from his chest into his knees. Great! _Playing the future king card was such a good idea. _Simba suddenly came to realization that being of royal birth didn't mean to burst it out to everyone. He led his head hang for a bid… but he quickly realized. _I got to recover from this one._ "Sorry guys. I didn't mean to upset you or anything. Look—uhm… maybe we can play next time around." He forced a smile to make up to the two cubs.

"Next time, try to be more polite that time." Chumvi replied.

The prince turned away from them and walked on a slight bit defeated. This was the exact same thing, he was being afraid of. Those two cubs were not going to be friends with him forever. _Next time I talk to some, I better keep my mouth shut and…_

SMACK!

Simba tumbled and fell over to the front. His muzzle kissing the dirt on the ground. He must have been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realized he was bumping into something, or someone.

"Hey! Can't you watch where you're going?" A female voice called out to him.

_Goody, the next good first impression!_ Simba got back to his feet and felt someone moving under him. He turned and his breath stopped immediately. He looked directly in a pair of aqua coloured eyes that belonged to a cream furred female


	2. Home, yet foreign

Chapter 2: home, yet foreign

_Got… to keep… moving!_ She thought under her heavy breath. The last hours have been exhausting and terrifying. Every inch of her body hurt, she had bruises even on places she didn't even knew she had places.

_I… can't… go on… too tired!_ The right side of her head was burning. She could feel the crimson liquid drooling down her right cheek. The pain was getting irresistible.

_No… don't rest… find a shelter!_ She could feel her left hind leg giving up under her weight. To her, it was obvious that it was broken. She couldn't remember how long she had been going on like this. Or how far she would have come by now. The only thing she knew was… that it was night.

Clouds were building up on the horizon which was a clear signal for rain to start soon. Already the first growls of thunder could be heard. Her situation was getting worse and worse by any second. Her muscles were giving in to her and her vision became blurry. _If I stop now… I… may… never… get back up._

She could already feel the first drops of rain dropping on her head. Soon, the wind and the water in combination with the earth that would turn to mud would make it impossible for her to get forward to any kind of protection from this sincere nature. And then, she spotted a small den erupting in the middle of the sandy plateau. It was a little glimpse of hope. She dragged her broken body forward; the rain drops now hammering on her figure and the wind almost knocking her over. Every time, a lightning stroke, it felt like her head would take another hit.

_If I can… just… make it!_ With a last summoning of her strength, she crawled inside the shelter and immediately dropped onto the ground with exhaustion. Finally, she could relax a bit. It took her about half an hour until she could bring her body into another position. Every little move made her ache and grinched her teeth in pain. She leaned her body against a wall and glanced down onto her stomach.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. I promise you!"

* * *

><p>The next mourning, life went by just a normal as it could go in the African savannah. Herds of wildebeest wandered through the land. Zebras, antelopes and other kinds of animals gathered at the few places where they could get some fresh water to drink or where the grass was well enough to be eaten. All seemed normal…<p>

That was except for a single male lion walking right through the veldt and receiving suspicious glances from the rest of the animals. Rogue lions were no rare thing in the animal kingdom. When a male cub reached a certain age, it was normal for it to leave his home pride and find another or found another one somewhere else. However, it was unusual for a single lion to travel so deep into another pride's territory. Not to say that it wasn't really that often for him being escorted by an African Pied Wagtail. It was a small black and white bird who had settled himself down on the lions shoulder. In contrast to the lion that kept walking on like nothing was bothering him. The bird constantly kept twirling around his head. It was if he was looking for something to attack them.

"You really think this is a good idea? You know how prides get when they see strays wandering around their territories!" The bird said into the lion's ear.

"Relax Kicho. It's not like we're doing anything wrong." The lion replied. "Besides from what I've heard, king Mufasa is not the type of king who immediately wants your head delivered as a mourning meal." Even though, his movements had certain elegance to them, the lions' appearance was a bit more of the 'bold' type. His fur was cream with a tint of gold in it, although it was difficult to clarify that with all the dirt lying upon it. He had red eyes and a dark brown mane.

The rather unusual duo now reached a small waterhole where groups of various animals had already gathered around for a drink. As they approached, they were greeted with mistrust. A few of the animals sneered at them.

The lion glanced from his left to his right and a sudden lust for sarcasm came over him. "Morning!" He greeted with an ironic smile and sunk his tongue into the water. The bird on his shoulder shrugged and grinned nervously before coming down to his feline friends' ear.

"See… I told you!" He whispered.

The lion didn't really pay much attention to the bird. Yet he decided that it would be the best to leave this place as soon as possible. He stopped drinking and trotted away from the waterhole.

"I knew that it was a bad idea to just wander into these lands in public and all by ourselves." Kicho kept going as they brought some distance between them and the scene they had just witnessed.

The lion shook his head. He and Kicho had been friends for quiet a while now. He was used to his flying companion to always be either afraid or concerned about any action he took. But sometimes, the small bird was really tiresome. "Seriously… what are you complaining about? How would you feel if a complete stranger would walk right next to you looking like I do? This is something completely normal. So QUIT whining."

The Pied immediately shut his beak and returned to staring into the distance.

Suddenly, the lion stopped dead in his tracks and started sniffing the air. His body tensed up as a horrified realization came into his mind. "Kicho! Do you smell that?" He called out to his companion who had his eyes widened and left the lions' shoulder.

"Unlike lions, I am not equipped with a superior scent!"

The lion now began to wander around in circles and scanned the ground surrounding him. "I'm serious Kicho; it smells like… there it is." He shouted and brought his nose down on the grass. "Blood! And it sure doesn't belong to any of the preys that we hunt. This is the blood of a lion."

It was hard for the lion to find the direction of the trace of blood. The heavy rain during the night had washed away a huge part. Yet he sniffed the ground and not only found the blood, but also the scent of the person which it belonged to. "Come on, this way!" He shouted to his companion and ran off into the distance.

_I don't know what this is about, but I'm going to find out._ He thought as his heavy paws hammered onto the ground and through the veldt. The blood trace got more and more blurred as well as the scent got mixed up with all the other animals' smells. It made the pursued of the hurt lion or lioness even more difficult. But to his fortune, the rain made the ground softer. Now he could make out paw prints in the marshy earth, whoever left these here, had a very unsteady walk. It looked like the animal almost dragged itself around. _I got to find him or her._

And then, he spotted the small cave in the middle of the field. _If I would have been sincerely hurt, I would take cover in there._ He slowed down his pace and now trotted closer to the shelter. If the lion was still alive, every sudden move could come out as a hostile act which would make him look like the aggressor. Slowly he walked towards the mouth of the den. The scent he picked up before now was really strong. He was definitely there. The lion took a careful and swift glance inside and spotted a lioness that lay down and leaned against a wall with her fur sprinkled with blood. As he got closer, he noticed her covered with dried down tears.

The lion got closer and sniffed her before checking her out for any vital signs. Kicho on the other hand just landed in front of the den and stared inside.

"She's still alive… barely." The male gasped and pressed his right paw on her stomach. "Kicho, go get some help. There must be some pride around here."

The bird slightly panicked and hesitated. Something just didn't feel right. "What if I find a pride and find put that it was one that attacked her?" he answered as he tried to sustain his breath.

"I don't have time for this right now. She won't make it if we don't do something. GO!" He snapped and let out a growl of anger. Kicho didn't wait for another demand and took off into the air.

The lion stood behind and glanced at the lioness. _Don't worry! I and my friend are going to get you through._ He nudged her with his muzzle to receive any kind of reaction. He his eyes focused on hers in hope of movement. And finally, she blinked. Slowly, her eyes went open and revealed a very weak stare. As soon as she realized where she was and who was in front of her. Her eyes widened and fear ran over her face.

"Relax! I'm not going to hurt you. My friend is going out there to get some help. Just lay still for the moment." The male lion said with a soft and gentle voice. The least thing he wanted to happen right now was for her to panic and make her condition even worse.

"Who… are… you?" She sighed with a tired voice.

"My name's NI!"

* * *

><p>Kicho flapped his wings as hard as he could as he flew over the African landscape. His gaze wandered around hectically for any sign of lions, or at least any kind of animal which could provide some help. He sure hoped that his friend knew what he was doing. In the distance, he spotted a huge triangle shaped rock staying in the middle of the veldt like a castle. He had heard of pride rock before but never actually met anyone who had really been there. He was taken aback by the size and the authority the giant rock formation beamed out. It was breathtaking. He flapped his wings even more as he gained up to what he heard of was the home of king Mufasa. And hopefully, one who could do something about their problem.<p>

As he glanced to the left, he spotted a big male lion being accompanied by two lionesses. Without thinking twice, he stormed down to get their attention. What he didn't calculate was the speed he picked up as he spotted pride rock. Kicho was unable to slow down appropriately and directly crashed into something as he hit the ground.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" A voice under him yelled in pain as Kicho finally got back his senses. The pied turned around and looked directly into the face of a blue hornbill, an angry hornbill to be exact.

"Sorry but…" Kicho's speech right away failed him as he looked into the angry eyes of the male lion.

"I hope you have a good excuse for bumping into my major-domo." He said with a stern expression on his face.

"Well uhm… I… we…"

"You better get a grip of yourself. This is king Mufasa you are talking to. So watch what you are saying." The hornbills' voice was snobbish and with a slight English accent (AN: I doubt that a Pied knows what an English accent is. But it's something the reader can relate to when it comes to Zazu and his voice)

"Calm down you two." One of the females with a dark beige fur suddenly called out to the male lion and the hornbill. Right away, she stepped forward eyeing the black and white bird. "Now relax and speak slowly." She said gently to him.

Kicho took a deep breath. "Okay, so my friend and I were wandering through your pride. We didn't mean any harm. But… as we came down into the veldt, my friend smelled the scent of a hurt lion. We searched the landscape for the source of it and found an injured lioness in a small shelter not far from here. My friend send me out to find help… and I found you." He explained as he regained his calmness.

King Mufasa rushed over to them and got down on the same level as the bird. "Show us the way!" he demanded. Kicho spread his wings and took flight. "Zazu get Rafiki. Himaya, you better stay and escort Sarabi back to pride rock." His eyes fell on the other lioness accompanying them but, to this point, kept herself in the back round. Mufasa was about to follow Kicho when…

"STOP!" The lion turned around to face his queen. "I'm coming with you:" She said and walked past him.

Mufasas face turned stern and concerned. "Sarabi, please! I don't want you to put yourself in more stress than necessary, especially in your condition." He said with a now gentle voice.

Kicho took another look at the lioness and realized. How could he not have seen it sooner? She was pregnant not to say that the cub was not far away from being born. Yet he totally missed it out.

"Mufasa, I'm going to be fine. Besides, this is my kingdom too. And if there's someone who is attacking lionesses around here, I have a right to set things right as much as you." Her voice was strong and full of determination. Mufasa held her gaze as the two tried to stare each other down. Finally, he began to smile.

"Very well, but Himaya will escort you. And at the first sign of trouble, you get out of there. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"Lead the way young bird."

* * *

><p>As soon as Ni revealed his name to the lioness, she fell back to sleep. At first he thought she might have lost her conscious. But as he checked her breathing, he was relieved to find her breath being rhythmic and calm. There wasn't much he could do for now. The best he could come up with was to go and get some food. Being on his own for the last parts of his life, except for Kicho to have around, he quickly learned the right way to a successful and quick hunt. And so he dragged a fresh killed baby zebra back to the den. He peaked inside to find the lioness still in trance and dropped the prey right in front of her nose.<p>

_Where is he dammit?_ Ni wandered and thought about Kicho and how long he had been gone. He then looked back at the lioness. Her expression had slightly relaxed, her injuries were still far from getting better, but she was not as torn up by her pain then when he found her. _Got to admit, she looks kind of cute. How could someone do something that cruel to such a handsome creature?_

"Ow!"

He suddenly snapped out of his thoughts as he saw her moving her head again. Ni didn't hesitate and moved the meat forward with his muzzle. "Here, you need something to eat." He gently remarked and gave her a warm smile.

The lioness didn't think twice and sank her teeth into the fresh hunted prey. Still every bite and every chew hurt her jaw and took a lot of strength. Yet it felt good to finally getting back some energy. Her eyes wandered up to the male lion staring at her. "I don't know what to say…" She weakly brought out of her muzzle.

"You could start with your name!" Ni responded dry.

Even though she smiled, Ni could tell that it was kind of forced. "I'm Sarafina!"

"NI!" Someone shouted from the distance. The male lion turned around and spotted his bird friend landing directly in front of the den. "There over here!" He gestured to the side and took a few steps back. Both Sarafina and Ni looked towards the opening where another male lion came now into few. "Ni this is king Mufasa he's…"

"Sarafina?" The king gasped as he spotted the female lion laying there beaten up.

"Oh great kings!" A female voice sighed from behind as Sarabi walked right by the king and Ni and directly approached Sarafina with shock and sorrow in her eyes. "What happened to you?" She asked and nuzzled her.

"You know each other?" Ni was kind of irritated and decided it might be best to stand down and let the situation develop.

Sarafina couldn't help but started to sob a bit as she returned the gently gesture with closed eyes. "I… I… he… they… they!" She out of the sudden sank down again in cries as Sarabi put her arm around the broken lioness while resting her head on her neck. Sarafina slowly got her head back up. It didn't take a genius mind to realize that the two females had been friends for a long time and still shared a lot of love for each other.

Sarabi then turned her head towards Ni who still kept himself in the background. "My name is Sarabi, queen of the pride lands. This is my husband king Mufasa. I thank you for helping my long friend." She said honestly and bowed her head in thanks.

"No problem. I don't know if this is the right moment to ask this but… what happened to you?" Ni asked carefully not to give Sarafina another reason to break down in tears again.

Sarafina on the other hand gulped and raised her head. "I was born here in the pride of Mufasa and Sarabi. We had been friends for most of my childhood." She smiled slightly and this time, it was honest and natural. "One day, I met a lion form another pride and started to fall in love with him." Her expression turned stern. "He… got killed short after we found out that I was carrying his cub." All of the others' mouths dropped open as she revealed the news. It was now that Ni realized how big her stomach had been actually. He smacked himself inside his mind for not noticing it. "After they were finished with him, they turned their attention to me…" Her ears dropped to the sides of her head.

Sarabi nuzzled her friend again before they were interrupted by another. "Alright let me through." It sounded as Raifki walked into the now overfilled shelter. "Everybody out!" he commanded right away and waved his arms around hectically. Realizing that they couldn't do anything right now, the group trotted away. Except for Sarabi.

"Do you need my help?" She honestly requested holding her position beside Sarafina.

"Is der any chance of me getting' yu oud of ere?" The mandrill replied in a rhetorical matter but had already taken a look at Sarafinas leg.

"Rafiki… I don't you to fix my leg. There is something far more precious that needs attention." She said tired and glanced at her belly.

Understanding what she meant, Rafiki placed a hand on her stomach before resting his ear on the same spot. He slowly wandered his hands across the lioness while concentrating his hearing on the inside. Realization came to his mind and pulled his head away. "Oh Sarafina, she'll be fine. In fact, she's not dat far away."

Sarafinas eyes widened. "She? OWWWW"

* * *

><p>Mufasa and Ni, accompanied by the two birds and the Lioness were waiting outside as the king slowly padded from one side to another. The events of the day had the lion and his pied friend left really tired out. Ni and Kicho were thankful that the huge and handsome lion was pretty occupied and yet missed out the chance to question them out. Ni at a glimpse of an eye could see the blue hornbill looking at them in a suspicious way. From what he could guess, he was some kind of right to the king. <em>For now, we don't have anywhere else to go. If we act kind of smart, we might be able to get some shelter tonight. I can feel another shower of rain approaching.<em>

On the other side Mufasa exchanged some quick gazes with his major-domo. _This is not the right time to ask them of their doings here. They acted really noble. It would be wrong to send them away. Sarabi and Sarafina would never forgive if I start interrogating them right now._ The king thought. He had a responsibility for his pride and his kingdom. That included having certain mistrust in strangers even if their deeds were of good nature.

The sky was now overcast and it already had the first raindrops coming down onto the group.

"OWWWWW!" Someone screamed from inside the den and shook them all out of their thoughts. Ni and Mufasa immediately stretched their heads into the opening of the den. Their gazes wandered down to Sarafina who was screaming in pain.

"What's wrong?" Ni asked right away.

"She's givin' birth!" The mandrill answered dryly as he put his hands back onto the lionesses' belly.

"Perfect timing! Really conveniant!" Kicho remarked sarcastically.

"NOT NOW!" It hammered back from both male lions

Sarafina was having another labour and again screamed up. "OK Sara, I need yu' to push hard!" Rafiki commanded. The lioness clenched her teeth together and gathered her strength to do as the mandrill ordered. She was barely able to move. And in this condition, she was supposed to give birth to a cub. "Yu der!" The monkey pointed towards Zazu. "Get to my tree an' get me som' implements. I gonna' be right back."

"Why me?"

Rafiki quickly stumbled over to him so that his mouth was on the same level as Zazus beak. "Because I need somethin' to keep her alive. Or else ther' won't be any cub to be born and no modder to give birth to her!" He whispered calmly not to start any more panic under the others. He then went back to the becoming mother who screamed again as another labour hammered though her body.

Zazu realized and set off right away. "I coming with you!" Kicho responded and followed the hornbill.

"Sarafina! Yo' need to relax. Breath calm and constantly. I gonna get yu' throu' dis. Just trust me." The mandrill said wand stroke his hand over the lioness forehead. She cried out again in pain as another labour shot through her.

And so the hours went by. With each labour that hit her. Sarafina became weaker and weaker. Soon the pain became unendurable. You don't have to be a scientist to realize that giving birth to a cub was no life threatening act. But giving the situation that Sarafinas body had been in, the danger was there all the time. Rafiki did the best he could to make her time the least painful and threatening. According to the gaps in which the labours were now coming, he knew that the lioness was in the end status. And that meant that the pain was driving her mad.

"I… I… can't… go on." She gasped between heavy breath and groans of pain. Her breath had become quick and hectically.

"Don't say that. I'm here with you." Sarabi as she kept her friends head in an embrace of her front legs.

"I'm back." It sounded and Kicho and Zazu stumbled back into the den, carrying a turtle shell with their beaks. Rafiki didn't waste any time and began to search through the stuff laying side. Quickly, he pulled out a strange looking fruit which he immediately broke in half. Its colour was of purple with orange lines running all over the shell.

"Her' eat." He offered it to the lioness that shook her head. Her gaze wandered up to Sarabi who gave her a quick nod. Slowly, she obeyed and started chewing on the fruit until she had swallowed nearly one complete half. Right in that moment, another labour ran through her stomach and made her yell at the top of her lungs.

"I think its coming." Sarabi said.

Rafiki right away put one hand back on her belly and one on her forehead. "Sarafina! I know dat' yu're tired. And I know dat' yu' can't go on. But it's now or never. PUSH!" he commanded and Sarafina clenched her teeth for one final stand. With all her left power, she pushed and could feel the small being crawling out of her body. She pushed again.

"Again!"

_Oh great Kings… guide my little one through this time if I'm not going to make it. I beg you. Take my life if there has to be a decision. I beg you… at least let me stay alive to have at least one look at her. So that I can see her with my own eyes, and let her know that no matter what*'s going to happen tonight. I will be there for her._ She closed her eyes and went for the final move. _Here it goes… _

With her last bit of strength, she pushed and immediately felt a lot of weight falling off of her body. She could feel that her little daughter had left her body and entered this world. She opened her eyes and found Rafiki smiling at her as he held a small bundle of fur lying in his arms. He laid it into her front legs and gently made an embrace out of them. Sarafina licked her daughter in joy as tears ran down her cheek.

"She's beautiful!" Sarabi remarked and nuzzled her. "Do you have a name yet?"

"What name could be appropriate for such an unbelievable gift from the great kings?" She said tired and powerless.

Sarabi sank her head and came eye to eye with the cub. "She's indeed a gift. Wait… that's it! There's a word for gift… Nala!"

Sarafina smiled towards her friend. "Nala? That's a beautiful name." She turned her muzzle towards her daughter and licked her one more time. "Your name is Nala… my daughter… Nala."

Then she passed out.


	3. Nala

What's up? So here's chapter 3…

Reldor: Thanks a lot, Reviews and comments are really appreciated.

Chapter 3: Nala

When Sarafina awoke later, all reality seemed so far away. Her vision was blurred, her head was hammering and she had no control over any of her body movements. The events of the last day and night seemed so unreal. It was almost like a dream. She dared to open her eyes but just one second later, she shut them immediately. The light of the sun which shined upwards in the sky was unsustainable. It took her another five minutes to gather herself and she opened them again. There she was, laying in a small den in the middle of the pride lands. Her head directed into the opening which gave her a good view of the grassy fields outside. She felt something move in her front legs and glanced. No it was definitely not a dream.

The small lion cub laid curled up right in front of her muzzle and was wide asleep. She then came to realization. _Sarabi… Rafiki… my leg… that fruit._ No! She was definitely a mother now and that filled her heart with joy and love. She gently and carefully licked the cubs head being careful not to wake it up. _I gave you a name… it was Nala._ She now remembered. Her daughter let out a purring noise and moved herself closer to her mother. Sarafina smiled adored.

"I see you have recovered!" She heard a voice and looked up. Just a few inches away from her stood the young male lion that she had to thank for her being alive and for making it through the birth. If he wouldn't have found Rafiki, she would have been no more. The lion smiled as much as adored towards her the cub as she did before.

"Yes! I think so… what happened after she was born? Everything is just a black hole." Sarafina asked shy.

Ni walked closer and sat right down beside her. "As much as I understood, you passed out after you said her name. I don't know what the monkey did. But it seems like it worked. It took about an hour before he came out of the shelter and told us that everything was going to be fine. He ordered me and Kicho to wait here until you finally got back to your senses. I already send Kicho out to get queen Sarabi and king Mufasa."

What followed was a rather unpleasant moment of silence. Both didn't know what to make out of the situation. As soon as Nis' duty was over, he and his bird friend had to move on. Sure Sarafina was going to stay on the pride lands. Yet he had the feeling he finally had found the right place for him to stay, a pride he would feel was going to let him in.

Seeing as how the situation got more and more uncomfortable, the lioness spoke up. "Uhm well… thank you a lot. I think Nala and I will always be in your depth." She replied and nuzzled her daughter one more time.

"Don't mention it!" he answered.

Just in that moment, Mufasa and Sarabi stretched their heads inside with broad smiles. "There she is." The queen smiled as she moved closer to the other two. She greeted her best friend and her offspring and nuzzled both of them. "How do you feel?" She asked gently.

"I live!" She replied simply. "What did Rafiki do to me? It feels like my body took only a couple of hours to recover. She said and stretched herself. A sudden burst of itching pain ran through her body and she gasped.

Right away, Sarabi and Ni stepped up to her in concern. "Calm down, the pain have might been gone on the surface. But that doesn't heal your broken leg. Neither does it repair your inner wounds." Ni remarked as he helped her back into a lying position. Unable to resist, Sarafina lay back down and put her daughter back into her embrace.

"I guess you're both right! For now, it might be the best idea to stay here." She replied defeated. "Besides…" she looked at her broken leg, "I don't have much of a choice."

* * *

><p>Recovery couldn't come early enough for Sarafina. She had a lot of things to catch up with the rest of the pride. To her, it was a pain to have to stay in 'bed', have to get fed, unable to do anything. The only good side to it was that it gave her enough time to spend with her newborn daughter. It didn't take long for the lioness to realize what character trades her child was going to have in her later life. Right from the beginning, she was an explorer and always tried to sneak away from her mother. She was unable to follow her everywhere in her condition. So for the most part of the time, it dwelled down to Ni to keep an eye on the young female lion.<p>

Sarabi couldn't be of any help either, having to deal with her own pregnancy for most of the times.

Weeks went by and Sarafina was finally able to leave the den and could wander around alone. So it was one day that the duo took a walk through the pride lands heading directly in the direction of pride rock. Nala constantly tried to run off and left her mothers side. "Nala… I swear, if you don't slow down for a second, I'm going to keep you in the cave until you have all grown up." She threatened her but kept it on a playful level.

"Come on mom! It's just so exciting." She said in a high pitched voice.

"Nala! You tried to run away from me since the day of your birth. If you keep sneaking off, you might get into really big trouble one day." (AN: ^^) She gently replied and nudged her forward with her muzzle. Seeing her child hopping around the veldt filled her heart with proud. She thought about how Nala came to this world, alone in a small den in the rain with her mother broken and beat up. And then there was the young Simba, Sarabis' son. Born a king, surrounded by her friends and pride, with his mother in the best condition. She wasn't envious; it just showed her how cruel this world could be. "Come along Nala, time to meet the rest of the pride." She said to her.

Since Sarafina was in such a bad condition since the birth. She and Nala had been pretty much isolated from all the other lions and lionesses in the pride. The only ones that kept in contact with them were Mufasa; Sarabi and of course Ni. Yet she had not gotten a really good chance to be accepted as a full member of the pride lands yet. So the day where the mothers brought their children into the circle of the pride seemed like the perfect idea and opportunity. On one hand, she had the chance to associate with the other lionesses and on the other hand she didn't have to worry about her little ball of energy running out of control.

They finally arrived in the back of pride rock where a bunch of female lions had already gathered under some small trees while they all kept their eyes on the cubs playing around the place. Sarafina glanced around to see if she could spot Sarabi anywhere near. Yet the queen was had not been present yet.

Nala in the meantime had other things that needed to be taken care of. _Today is my chance, if I can become friends with some other cubs early, mom might finally let me go of on my own. _She thought. _But what if they don't except a cub from outside? _Sudden doubt struck through her mind. She knew of the circumstances of her birth. Sarafina and the other didn't see any reason for keeping her in the dark that she was born in the pride lands, yet she wasn't a full pride Lander. So Nala had no idea how the other cubs would react to a 'stranger'. "OUCH!" Nala had been driven in her thoughts so deep that she didn't realize that her mother had stopped in front of her. So she bumped directly into her right hind leg. He rubbed her forehead and looked up.

"Whoa there little one." Sarafina said to her daughter as she felt her crashing into her. She sank her head and signed to look in front of her. "Here! I want you to meet someone." Nala looked up towards another lioness and her cub. It was another female but a bit older than her. Her fur was tarnish-cream with an orange tint. Nala noticed the tuft on top of her head which was kind of unusual for a female.

"Nala! This is Subira. And that is her daughter Tama:" Sarafina introduced her to the others.

Tama walked up to her with a shy expression. "Hi!" She said quietly and shoved her left front paw over the ground.

"Hello!" Nala responded shyly.

"Why don't you two go play for a bit, we will be over here if you need anything." Sarafina said but said it more like a demand. Even with her voice being really gentle.

_That was… easy. _Nala said and was glad that she didn't have to interrupt any of the cubs to ask if she could join. Her mother already introduced her to someone. And maybe, this was the friend she needed to get a bit more freedom. The two cubs padded away into the distance. Not saying a word for the next moments. "So… do you want to play?" She then asked Tama.

"Sure... why not? What do you wanna' play?" The tarnish coloured cub replied.

"You want to play tag with me?"

Both Nala and Tama turned around towards another female cub that approached them from the side. She had about the same figure as Nala except for her fur and eye colour. Her fur was caramel coloured and she had red eyes. Over and all her appearance seemed really friendly. "Of course, and you are…?" The cream cub asked.

"My name's Kula! Who's it?" The newcomer asked and regretted her question right away as she realized.

"NOT IT!" Tama and Nala called simultaneously and darted off right away laughing. Kula didn't hesitate and darted after them.

The three females ran around, chasing each other around, giving the duty of tagging the others over to each other. All in all, they had a really good time. It was the first time that Nala felt really free. For once, her mother wasn't around to tell not to do this and that. Then again, she really liked being around with Ni. But she always thought that the male lion would do anything to not upset her mother which meant that he would handle things exactly like her. But not this time. "WOW!" She gasped as she tumbled over a small rock on the grassy field and landed face first in the dust. The next thing she saw was Kula standing over her and putting her paw on her nose.

"You're it." She laughed.

"I think I stop playing tag for now." Nala answered and went into a sitting position. She looked around for Tama but couldn't make her out.

"ROAR!" She heard and found herself tackled by Tama who sneaked up behind, the two cubs rolled around as Nala got an idea. _What did Ni teach me?_ She shifted her weight, tensed up her body and pushed her hind legs forward. When the two cubs stopped, Tama found herself pinned down by the younger cub. She looked up in shock.

"Pinned ya!" Nala smirked at her.

"How did you do that?" Her newfound friend looked.

"A friend taught me." The cream coloured cub remarked. She let her go and lifted her head up in triumph. But that moment didn't last for long.

"SMACK!"

Someone or something bumped into her and knocked her over. The net thing she realized was that someone lay on top of her. All she could see was golden fur. It indicated a golden furred male cub. "Can't you watch where you're going?" She snapped annoyed and felt the figure on top of her move. She got back up and indeed looked into the chestnut eyes of a golden furred male cub.

* * *

><p>"Sorry!" Simba gasped and let his ears drop to the side of his head.<p>

Nala frowned and licked her right front paw which had been somewhat hurt in the collision. She then glanced around and realized that she and the cub were yards away from the others. She eyed him again. "Good job you know, now I hurt my paw." Nala remarked sarcastically. The day had been so good until now.

"I told you I'm sorry, I… kinda had a rough day. I'm Simba by the way." He answered and showed his concern yet with a little optimism when he mentioned his name.

"Yeah yeah, whatever!" She said and without looking at him. Nala was about to pad away when she got hold up by the golden Cub.

"Look! I want to make up for what I did. Could you at least give me something that can make me help you?" Simba put on a distant smile. "So… let's start over again. My name is Simba." He pushed his chest forward and raised his chin. Nala noticed the cocky movement as he announced his name.

She let out a sigh. "Okay, I'm Nala!" She could see a mixture of disappointment that she didn't react in any way to his name, yet there was a slight feeling of relief when she introduced herself to the cub. "So… what do you do when you're not tripping over people?" She asked with a distant smile.

Simba looked up. "Well... besides becoming the future king, I'm trying to make some friends." He said and made Nala gasp inside.

_So this is Sarabis son? Mom told me about him. Tripping people over and announcing to everyone who he is was really a good plan._ She continued inside her sarcastically. "Yeah, I can see… from the looks of it, you're really good at this!" She grinned evil and challenging. Simba on the other hand accepted the challenge.

"Oh… you don't wanna' upset your future king. Trust me; this will not end well for you." He put up his cocky smile again.

"You want to rephrase that _your highness?" _Nala didn't know if she liked his attitude or if she should rip off his head.

"No chance!"

"BRING IT!" With that, Simba leaped towards the female and tried to knock her over. He was about to press her to the ground when… _SWOOSH_! Nala shifted her weight and had the golden cub now pinned to the ground and made him look up in shock. _This is a really good trick. I got to make this my trademark move!_ Nala giggled inside. "Pinned ya!" She said and laughed out loud.

Simba couldn't believe it. He got beaten by a girl. A girl! _Come to think of it, what would have happened if I started wrestling with Chumvi and Tojo earlier on?_ He then looked back to the cream coloured female lion. "Guess I deserved that one." He said and put on a weak smile.

Nala giggled again and got off from him. "You know, you seem alright. What do you think; want to go for a second round?" She smiled and went into a challenging stand. Simba didn't think twice and attacked her right away. This time, he went for a low attack trying to sweep her off from her legs. He female cub dove to the side and countered Simba. The duo rumbled around and came to a halt aside a small boulder. And again, Nala had Simba stuck to the ground with her paws pressing down his shoulders.

"Pinned ya' again!" She smiled in triumph.

"Okay, I give up! You win." Simba said in defeat as she let him sit up again. "You're really good at this." He mumbled but put on another smile. Nala really seemed like a nice girl, after the disappointment earlier. This was the chance of him getting a friend after all. "What do you say, you wanna' be friends with me?" He asked with slight puppy eyes.

"NALA!" That was her mother. _I must have been out of sight for too long. _Nala looked again at Simba and laughed. "Yeah! Let's become friends."

Right in that moment, Tama and Kula came walking up to the duo and eyed the young prince. "Nala, what happened? What did he do?" The tarnish cub asked.

"Oh… nothing! Nothing that I can't handle." Nala replied as she eyed her new found friend. "Hey uhm… Simba, these are Tama and Kula. Ladies this is Simba." She stretched out her paw as she introduced the three cubs to each other. Kula and Tama gasped a little. They had heard of the little prince, Tama was there on the day of his presentation.

"Hi I'm…"

"We know… it's not like one could miss your act earlier Mr. bragging rights." Tama replied with a stern expression, she didn't like people running around and shouting out to everyone what's so great about them. She was about to continue when Nala interrupted.

"Relax guys, Simba didn't know any better. Come on, let's call it a day and head back to our mothers. I know mine is already anxious about my beings." She said and padded Tama on the shoulder as the group walked back to the others.

As Sarafina saw her daughter walking up to her side by side with Simba it made her really proud. She noticed the other two accompanying them and giving up slight giggles. _Now that was a successful day._ She thought to herself. Nala approached and received a gentle nuzzle from her mother. "I thought you were trying to run away again. But it seems that I was worried for nothing this time." Nala purred and looked back to the other cubs beside her.

"Is it already time to go home mom?" The cream coloured cub asked fearing that it would already be the end of fun time. Sarafina smiled as she saw how Nala was associating with the other. "No not at all honey, I just have been worried a bit. Just go along and have some more fun." She licked her and Nala ran off with a laugh.

* * *

><p>While Simba, Nala and the others got along pretty well, playing tag and other stuff, another cub on the opposite of the place was not as enthusiastic as the rest of the pride. If it would have been his choice, he would have stayed in his little den except for a little walk. But to his annoyance, he was pushed out of his small home by an old mandrill. It was a mystery to him why Rafiki constantly tried to make him come in touch with the pride. It wasn't like he hated them, he just didn't care for them.<p>

But as it turned out, he had to walk up to this gathering where had to make social contact with other cubs. And so he stepped across in front the adult lionesses without paying attention to them. _Why do put up with this? _He thought and laid down on a small rock as he observed the scene with his head resting on his paws. He waived his gaze over to the side where he saw a golden male and cream female cub wrestling on the floor with the female getting on top of the cub all the time. His mind wandered of this world as he faded away into a little slumber.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice asked and pulled him out of it as he glanced into the face of another cub looking at him with big eyes.

"None of your business!" Mwehu answered dry and annoyed.

"Sorry! It's just that you sit around here while the rest is out there having fun." The cub replied and walked up beside the grey-cream coloured young lion. The cub noticed the scar running down Mwehus' left cheek. "What happened there?" He asked carefully.

Mwehu slightly shook his head. "What part of 'none of your business' was so hard to understand?"

The cub was getting really offended. All he tried to do was help. "Hey pal, there's no need of getting rude here. I was just trying to help you out."

"Try again sometime!"

"You know! With that attitude, you're not getting along with the rest."

Mwehu was really angry now, if he wanted to be alone, he wanted to be alone. Why didn't anybody understand? This cub was getting into serious trouble. "Look… _pal._ I swear, if you don't take a hike. I won't be able to guarantee for anything."

The cub stood up and eyed him with fury. "I don't have to hear you threatening me. Watch your mouth or I can't guarantee for anything."

That did it. Within the next seconds Mwehu was all over the cub and started clawing at him. He didn't expect the scarred cub to be that strong. Already Mwehu smacked him across the face before kicking him directly on the muzzle. The cub sank to the ground in pain and Mwehu sank his teeth into his throat. Oh he wasn't going to kill him. He just wanted to teach him a lesson. The cub was shocked as he found himself in this life threatening position.

"STOP IT IMMEDIATELY!" Someone shouted and Mwehu released the young lion. He turned around and found queen Sarabi and several other lionesses gather around and giving him angry glances. "Who started it?" The beige lioness asked but let it sound more like a demand.

"Does it matter anyway?" Mwehu said as he realized that all eyes were set on him.

Sarabi got eye to eye with him which made the little cub freeze a bit. "I understand that king Mufasa had the mercy to let you into our pride. But that doesn't mean that he gave you the freedom to do whatever you pleased with. Try to behave yourself when you are around the other members." She said quiet.

Mwehu left it uncommented and with a last look of annoyance to the cub, which now lay in his mothers embrace he walked away.

Sarabi gazed after him with concern. _I just don't get that child!_


	4. The troublemakers

Chapter 4: The troublemakers

So despite the slight rocky start, Simba and Nala became really close friends. Well some might see that as an understatement. They were inseparable. The two quickly realized how much in common they had. There was the like to discover and sneaking off, their enthusiasm for adventures, and the fact that they both were so dominant that they could have verbal duels for hours just trying to beat each other with their width. As much as Sarabi and Sarafina liked the fact that their children were getting along so well, it meant for them to keep the double more attention for keeping them out of trouble. And it wasn't like the young prince was dragging Nala along for the ride. No… she was totally into it.

So it came one day that Nala awoke early as the sun rose above the pride lands while the rest of the pride was still fast asleep. The cream coloured cub looked around and found herself held gently in her mother embrace. _That's going to be tricky!_ She thought as Nala tried to figure out the best way to get of the situation. As she glanced to the left, she spotted Simba who lay right beside his mother and father but on his own. She quickly shifted her body form left to right and inch by inch squeezed out and free from Sarafina. _Hehe... got it! _She smirked in triumph and walked up to her golden furred companion. She nudged him with a paw on his side.

"Simba, hey!" Nala whispered. But the male lion cub didn't move a muscle. All she realized was the rhythmic movement of his belly and the little breezes of his breath. _You can't be serious? _She raised her eyebrow as she waived back her head. Nala nudged him again, and finally the prince responded with blinks of his eyes.

"What's going on?" He responded with a sleepy voice and rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on? Look what's not going on!" She said silently as he signalled her friend to turn and gaze around.

Simba glanced all over the cave and noticed that the rest of the pride was still occupied in their slumber. An evil and sly grin appeared on his face. "Perfect!" He whispered. As quickly and quietly as possible, he got to his feet and followed Nala outside of the cave. _Finally, all the pride land towards my feet and my own desire._ He laughed inside as they made their way down aside the huge rock formation giggling to each other. Here they were, on their own. _Finally… no parents, no mourning baths, well at least to Simbas delight, no duties, no…_

"Where do you think you two early birds are going?"

_Oh no… not him! _Simba thought as he realized the source of the voice that ripped their smiles of their faces. He looked at Nala who had the same expression of annoyance as himself. The young prince turned around and found himself muzzle to beak with a blue hornbill. "Mourning Zazu! Up so early?" He said cocky and tried to hide the fact that he was really upset of getting caught.

"Well… as the kings major-domo it is my duty to keep an eye on the pride and make sure that all is well in order, which includes… keeping _noisy_ cubs from getting themselves into trouble." Zazu said stern as he formed his right wing to a finger and pointed it onto the cubs' chest.

"Touché!" Nala answered in defeat. Both cubs followed the major-domo back up pride rock where they were already greeted by Sarabi. "Got to hand it to your mother, she really outplayed us here." She whispered into Simbas' ear. The golden cub nodded and faced her.

"Yeah, I think we have to be cleverer next time."

* * *

><p>After receiving their daily <em>'don't try anything like that again' <em>speech and having breakfast, Simba and Nala finally got some time to play on a regular basis. Since their first meeting, Simba even had the chance to make things up with Chumvi and Tojo, he wouldn't call Tojo a friend, but at least the two got along. Chumvi on the other hand was a cub he really got to appreciate having around. He was a really good sport. After a good game of tag, Simba and Nala decided to lie down a bit beside the waterhole. The two were accompanied by Kula and Chumvi.

All four lay on their backs as they gazed up towards the clouds. "Hey, that one looks like a giant elephant." Chumvi called out and pointed his right paw towards the sky.

Right beside him, Kula smiled at him mischievous. "Oh really… come to think about the size of those animals' stomach, I could have sworn that it was you." She answered and made all the others laugh out hysterical. Nala and Simba rolled to the side and the young prince turned his gaze away from his friends.

He right then spotted two male cubs approaching each other with fury in their faces. One of them he recognized as Tojo. He could tell by the huge tuft on his forehead and the darker fur colour. But what made him shiver inside was the other cub. He had seen him before and being in the exact same situation often enough. "Here we go again!" He said frustrated in the direction of Nala, Chumvi and Kula. They first looked at him and then to the other two cubs and gasped.

"What do you want here?" The pale grey-cream coloured cub asked cold with a challenging stare.

"Last time I checked, the waterhole was a place where everybody can get something to drink. And come to think about it, there's no time regulation." Tojo replied proud and had no intention of backing down.

"I know that. I'm not _that_ stupid. But my question remains, what are you doing _here?"_ Mwehu asked but let it sound more of a challenge.

Tojo jerked his head up and growled a little. "Since when do you owe this place? Non-native!" he spat the last words. Tojo knew from the elder lions and lionesses that Mwehu wasn't born a pridelender.

"I don't! But I wonder, if you don't want to hang out with lions of different heritage. Why do you hang around with different species? Does it make your walk look more stylish?" Mwehu responded bursting with anger and mocked him. Yes he had known about Tojos' bird friends and wasted no opportunity to tease him about the way he had to walk because of his hurt his leg that time.

It was the first time, Tojo and Simba had some sort of a moment. Since the ochre coloured cub once had hurt his right hind ankle, he had to look over a bunch of orphaned birds and taught them how to fly. On that day; Tojo learned a really good lesson. And that made him really proud. But the more proud he became, the more defensive he got when somebody tried to ruin that memory for him. "Care to run that by me again, Mweirdhu?" He responded ready to drop the gloves at any moment.

"Watch it! _Bird-boy_!"

"Scarface!"

That did it. Within seconds, both young male lions had reached out their claws for each others throat. Tojo pressed the rebellious cub forward and tried to flip him over. Mwehu on the other hand shifted his weight slightly and pushed his hind legs into the ochre cubs' stomach. Tojo fell to his side. The scarred cub had him right where he wanted him. He rammed his head into Tojo side and was now on top of him grinning in a mocking tone.

It was right in that moment when Mwehu was pulled off of him as hew raised his paw for a huge stroke. The grey-cream cub looked behind and directly into Chumvis' eyes who had him packed by the scruff of his neck. His head turned and he spotted Nala and Kula helping Tojo to his feet right when his vision was blocked by a golden furred cub. "Come guys, stop it!" Mwehu recognized the voice as belonging to prince Simba. Inside, he screamed in anger yet kept his face from showing any emotion. Chumvi let him go and Mwehu immediately went face to face with him. Their heads were only inches away from each other.

"I hope you know what trouble you are in right now." Tojo called from behind the two females as he licked his left front leg which seemed to be in pain.

Simba shot him a glare which signalled _Just stay calm and quiet for a little moment._ He then turned his head towards the scarred cub, which still had his eyes locked on Chumvi. "Mwehu! Now is not the time to start a fight with Tojo or anybody else." He said and kept a gentle voice. He now had the full attention of Mwehu. "Look, we're all part of the same pride. What do you think? We start this all over again." _At least that was how it worked with Nala and Tama!_ He thought. "Im Simba, these are Nala, Kula, Chumvi and… well… you already met Tojo!" He exclaimed as he introduce him to all the other cubs around them.

Mwehu raised his eyebrows. "What are you trying to do?" He asked dry.

"Yeah, good question! What are to trying to do?" Chumvi and Kula called out simultaneously.

Simba ignored them and took another step forward towards the angry lion. "What do you say? Wanna' hang out with us?" The others' mouth dropped open as they heard Simbas' proposal. _If I don't walk up to him and make the first step, he might end up killing someone for real._ Simba thought as this was the fourth time in a few days that he spotted Mwehu getting into a fight. He had to do something.

Mwehu didn't show any emotion as he kept glancing at the golden furred prince. His eyes wandered to the left on the three cubs in the background. Then behind him at the dark brown cub who was earlier introduced as Chumvi. He shook his head. "Sorry! But your pride is not my pride. And quiet frankly, I don't care for any of your silly games." He said cold and walked past the young prince.

Right in the moment as he made eye contact with Tojo for a last time, he growled slightly. "HEY! What's your problem, Simba just wanted to make something up to you. He just ignored the fact that you attacked one of our friends. And THIS is how YOU thank him!" Kula yelled at him and got right into his face.

"You want to be next in line?" he spat at her and growled viciously. Kula stepped a few inches backwards as Chumvi jumped right beside her with anger in his eyes.

"You have to get through me first!" he called back.

"With pleasure." Mwehu responded and got ready to pounce at the dark brown cub. Right in that moment, he felt a paw landing on his shoulder and glanced into the aqua eyes of the cream coloured female cub. _Nala! _He presumed.

She looked at him with pleading eyes to stop with his aggressive behaviour. "I think it might be a good idea to meet again on another day." She said gently. For the moment, there was no chance of getting through to him on this way on this situation. "Right now, these arguments will get us nowhere.

The grey-cream lion gazed at each and every one the young lions that had him surrounded. Even though, he was ready to take on every cub in the pride lands. But to let himself go in this situation meant that within moments, the parents of these children would have come around and clearly held him responsible for this mess. He didn't care what the older lions thought of him, but even he had to admit that in someway… he needed them. They shared their food with him. And king Mufasa allowed him to stay with his pride. He could move to another pride, but how long would it take for him to find one that bore with him. _No… no fight this time… I need them! _Mwehu slowly backed off.

However his glance got straight into the blue eyes of Tojo who returned his icy expression "See ya', bird-boy."

"Can't wait! Scarface!"

The group waited up until the lonely cub had disappeared before they turned their attention to the young prince. "What was that all about?" All of them asked out at the exact same time.

"What did I do?"

Chumvi walked right up to him. "What do you mean 'what did I do?' I thought we were friends. And then you take off and approach the enemy." He said furious. His eyes focused on Kula "You heard him; he had no second thoughts about attacking a girl. He wanted to hurt her. And what do you do? You go out and ask him to be our pal." He turned around and grunted.

The golden cub couldn't help it, but he had to smirk about the way Chumvi was acting around their caramel female friend. "Look guys, if we would have just stood back and done nothing, this would have gone seriously out of paw. I had to do something." Simba sat down with his ears dropping to the side. "And I don't know what you guys think but… I rather have him to be my friend than my enemy. The least thing we can do is to make Mwehu feel like a part of the family." He continued gesturing with his paws.

"I agree with Simba! Someone needs to reach out to him." Nala agreed and sat down right beside him. Tojos Kulas' and Chumvis mouth dropped down even more. With shaking eyes, the trio trotted away from the scene and left the duo sitting beside the waterhole. "I hope you don't get the hold of the wrong end of the stick but… that was a really kingly move you put up there." She complimented and smirked slyly.

"Really?... I mean… of course!" Simba replied and pushed out his chest and his typical fashion.

Nala raised one eyebrow and short after shook her head. "I should have known!" She smiled. "So… you got a plan how to approach our little fight club buddy?" She said as they started to make their way back to pride rock.

"Of course… we just walk up to him and have a little chat. Really genius huh?"

The cream coloured female cub just shook her head. "Brilliant idea Patton!" Nala said with sarcasm. (AN: I know, two pop culture references in about three lines. But I couldn't come up with a better synonym for a young lion with a talent for strategies) "Come on _your majesty _I'll race ya' home." She mocked and the two set off for pride rock.

* * *

><p>As the cubs slowly trotted away from their gathering, none of them realized that a pair of green eyes had been locked on them for the whole time. They also showed a special interest in the young prince and his friend. His eyes glimmered in despise. <em>I was set to be the top of the chain. I was supposed to be the first in line. Which is to say… I was until that little ball of fur arrived. And by all that is graceful, is he annoying, always and constantly trying to be good friends with me. Doesn't it have to be enough that we're related? I should have torn out his head from the beginning I saw him. But that would be my demise. If my brother finds out…<em> His thought wandered of. To his right, he could see the sun shining on his paw while the rest of his body stood in the shadows.

His gaze wandered onto his brown/red fur and on the black hair that gathered on what humans would recall as elbows. He and his brother were so unlike and that included not only their appearance. Except for the colour of his hair, he was a male reflection of his mother. The fur, the eyes, everything! His brother on the other hand, was so much alike with their father. And he despised both of them.

Scar growled as he thought about his brother and his father. The great Mufasa, respected by all of the pride Landers, first born cub of king Ahadi and queen Uru, he was the one everybody looked up to and adored. Where as he was Scar, the lion once called Taka, until that accident where he received that wound on his eye. Beside his mother, there was no one that ever wanted to stick up with him. He envied his brother with all his might.

"Scar!"

_Speaking of which… _he thought and turned around to see king Mufasa standing right in front of him. "What can I do for you your highness?" He asked and left no doubt that he was being sarcastic.

"I noticed that you stopped interacting with our pride recently. Most of the time, you keep yourself in your den. I fear that you may distance yourself to much from us."

_Here we go. Typical for my brother, he always tries to be the goody good._ "Well, I can't say that I enjoy my time around all of you. Especially when I see new faces running around here and slowly drive us out of our rightfully owned places." He said with a distant face. There was no chance that his little try of spreading mistrust under the lions would work. But there was no harm in trying.

"You're talking about Ni and Mwehu? I told you before, if it wouldn't have been for Ni, Sarafina and Nala would have died out there. Last time I checked, you did care for Sarafina yourself when you were young. And as far as Mwehu goes… he has to find his place in this pride yet." He king answered and tried to keep his calm.

Scar granted his teeth, but as little as possible to not let Mufasa notice. _Oh_ _dear brother… it is definitely not a good idea to tear open old wounds._

"However Scar. They both are now respected members of our pride, as well as Sarafina and Nala _still_ are. And that means that they belong to the same pride as you. Don't forget about that." Mufasa replied eyeing his brother. "And since I have to tell you this again, that little hairball is supposed to be your king at one day. And until that day comes, I want you to keep an eye on him as he was your own son." He darted him and walked off.

_It seems like this is becoming a regular duty with him giving me a lecture about responsibility towards my nephew and my pride._ _The thought about having to deal with this naïve cub is so…_ Scars' eyes widened as he realized. Having _to DEAL with this NAÏVE cub… of course._ The brown/red lion glanced over to Mufasa who was already yards away on pride rock before he stared into the distance beyond the borders of the pride lands.

* * *

><p>The next day arrived and that meant that Simba and Nala went along with their plan to get in contact with Mwehu. But that was easier said than done. Especially with the fact given that the subject of interest had no intention of being found or being approached. To make matters worse, the scarred cub never mentioned to anybody where he lived, except for the sharing of prey. Mwehu barely showed up around the other members of the pride. And when he showed up, it most of the time ended in an argument or a fight. So it was at this point of the day that Simba and Nala lay on guard in the high grass of the savannah and kept an eye out for the cub that searched for nothing else but trouble.<p>

"We've been out her for hours now. Do you really think this is the right way?" Nala asked annoyed as she yawned before she rested her head on her paws.

Simba on the other hand held his position with his head focused as he lay right beside her. "You know, it only had been fifteen minutes." He answered with a smirk. "And besides, do you have a better idea?" With the corner of his eye, he overlooked his cream companion. His mind wandered of as he thought about the last weeks. Simba thought about how his time in the pride had begun, how he first meet the female cub that he could call to be his best friend. Things sure changed fast in the African lands.

"Hel-lo! Are you still here?" Nala called out of the sudden and waived her paw in front of the princes' face. He drove out of his trance and faced her.

"Huh? Oh yes… yes. I'm all ears."

Nala stretched herself out on her back and gazed tired towards the sky. "Y'know, having to wait here is really boring. So… here is my idea. You know that the hunting party is going to return soon. So that means Mwehu is going to join us at lunch. And hat means he's going to leave afterwards. And that means…"

"Get to the point." Simba interrupted rolling closer to her.

"I'm getting there. So, why… instead of waiting _out here_ for him to show up, we wait until meal and follow him to where ever he's hiding?"

Simba widened his eyes as he realized. _Oh snap, she really has a point there. That's a very good idea._ "There might be some sense in it." He finally admitted yet tried his best to cover up the fact that she discovered a huge flute in his plan. "Yeah, we better wait until dinner." He said. The golden furred cub sat up straight and looked up at his friend. "So… what do you want to do in the meantime?"

Nala stood up and turned her back to the prince. "I don't know. Maybe we could… OOOF"

That was the exact moment Simba had been waiting for. With a sudden rush of energy, he pounced at the female and the two rolled over the savannah. _Now I got her_! He thought and felt Nala landing under him. But suddenly, the cream cub pushed her legs up and landed on top pf the prince pinning him to the ground.

"Nice try Sim, but you got to put a bit more effort into it." She mocked and let go of him. Simba stared into her aqua eyes. _Looks like I finally found my match. Just don't spill it out loud._ He didn't realize that he wandered off into staring at her. Nala realized and stepped away from him giving him a soft smack with her left paw. "You're doing it again!" She exclaimed.

The young prince shook his head and got back to his feet. "Yeah uhm… sorry about that." He said embarrassed.

Nala giggled and shoved him again on the forehead. "You're really weird you know!" Both laughed as they heard a roar hauling over the landscape. It signalled the time for dinner.

Just like Nala suspected, it was right before meal that the scarred cub Mwehu showed his face for the first time of the day. And like most of the times his presence was either ignored or anticipated with distance. Only a few of them exchanged looks with him. Nobody talked to him; it was just a moment both sides wanted to get over with really quick. In a lion pride, the males were the ones who had the first right to eat from the prey. After that came the lionesses and last the cubs.

Simba and Nala joined sides as Sarafina bit off a large chunk of meat from the freshly hunted wildebeest and dropped it for her daughter. The cream coloured cub started chewing right away on the prey while Simba couldn't help but lock his eyes on his father and his uncle. Both adult lions never shared any eye contact. They hardly ever spoke to each other in Simbas presence. Come to think of it… he never actually had seen Scar and his father interact in any way since he was allowed to wander around. He slightly shook his head and returned to the little piece of meat.

On the other end of the group, Tojo and Mwehu once in a while locked eyes on each other. Both of them signalled that their argument was in no way forgotten. But other than that… the meal went on as normal as usually.

And so the young prince and his friend waited until Mwehu was finished and without saying and signalizing anything, except a little nod to king Mufasa, backed off from the gathering. Simba made a nod and he and Nala swept out of their parents' looks. Nala hid behind a rock as the scarred cub made a quick glance behind him. Almost as if he knew something was not right. He then continued on his way across a slight dusty trail heading away from pride rock.

Simba wondered as he followed him. _This isn't just a slight walk away from the pride. This is living at the other end of our territory_. Up to this point, he had never been so far away from pride rock and the overview of his parents. His thoughts wandered off to his father. His dad never took him out to see the huge size of the land he was going to rule one day. _When we get back, that's the first thing I'm going to ask dad about. The pride lands might look amazing at sunrise. _On the other side of the trail, he could see Nala keeping her eyes on Mwehu. _Should I ask her to come with me? This might be the best idea to impress her. _Impress her? Why would he need that, he thought. She was his best friend; there was no point in impressing her on this way. Simba shook his head and tried to get the thought out of it.

At this moment, the cream female cub noticed that their target was heading towards a large acacia tree in the distance of the veldt. _Of course! Living so far in the veldt and away from the pride, this is the best way to get some shelter for a small cub. _The cub stopped and took another glance behind him. This time he gazed into the direction of Nala. She quickly lay down in the grass and tried not to move a muscle. Mwehu walked backwards and was now only a few feet away. There was no doubt that he knew that there was fishy going on here and he stopped right beside her. It was unclear to Nala why she was afraid, so what if she sneaked up behind him? It wasn't like he was going to kill her. Besides… Simba was around too!

"Okay! Playtime is over. Get out of your hideout now!" Mwehu called out and locked his eyes right on the small golden point moving to his left.

Simba pulled up his head and revealed himself to the other male cub.

"Ahhhh… if it isn't his royal plainness? Got to admit, I'm kind of surprised to have you following me around to my home. Where's your girlfriend? I've never seen you two been separated for longer than five seconds." He said with a smile. Yet his voice held no sign of any joy in it.

At this moment, Nala walked out of the grass and came to a halt just beside the golden furred prince. "First! I'm not his girlfriend!" (AN: Finally got that line out of the way) "Second! His name is Simba and I'm Nala. Third we were just trying to get to know you!" She replied with a stern voice.

Mwehu on the other side smiled. It was the first time either one of the two cubs had seen him do that in an honest way. Well at least in an honest and mean way. "And your best idea was to follow me?" he answered as he started walking towards the acacia tree again.

"Would you have let us talk to you and lead us here if we would have asked politely?" She asked challenging. Nala had enough of receiving nasty and mocking remarks from the pale cub.

"No!"

"You see!" She said and turned to Simba.

But the prince just took a few steps forward with a pleading expression. "Please… Mwehu, just hear us out for once. We don't want to be your enemies. We want to be your friends" He didn't know if a friend was the right word what he had in mind. But at least being on a neutral stand with him was an accomplishment. "We couldn't help but notice that you never spend your time with other cubs. You appear for meals and then leave. And then… when we do see you around with other lions… you get into these fights and arguments. And, we just felt that you could use some company around here."

The scarred cub didn't show any response. He just stared at the two and turned his back towards them. "What makes you think that I could use some company?" He answered in a low and calm voice.

Simba and Nala were a bit taken aback by that. Was he really asking this? All lions and lionesses in the kings Pride knew of him having no connection to any other lion and animals. He was completely alone. There was no one who could come to his aid when he needed some. For a small lion cub without a pride to take care of it, it was doomed. "Are you serious? Everybody at one point needs someone to talk to. Everybody needs a friend that he can share his secrets and his desires. I mean… who do you play with during the day?"

"I don't play! Out here, without the protection of the elders, I have to take care about myself. I can't allow myself to let my guard down by playing games." He rubbed the right side of his jaw.

It was now that Simba realized the new scar that had built on Mwehus muzzle. "What happened there?" He asked.

"Unfriendly contact with a snake this mourning. But enough of that, what do you want?" Within seconds, his voice changed form clam and low, to angry and annoyed. He was clearly signalling both cubs that he had no interest in continuing this conversation.

Nala was the first to respond. "Like we already said, you look like you could use some friends around." She got really close to his face and showed that there was some sort of concern she had for him. "Since you did your best to get every cub in our pride to hate you, we thought we could make it a bit easier for you!"

"Easier for me!" He mocked back. "If I wanted company, I would have already made an attempt to get in touch with you." The trio had now arrived at the tree where Mwehu immediately padded to the small opening beneath where he spent his nights. "I'm perfectly fine without any of you little care bears." He said in a nasty tone.

By now, Simba was starting to get really angry at the male cub in front of him. It was the first time, the two of them exchanged more than a few words with each other. And the prince could see by now why Tojo, Chumvi and the others held a serious grudge against Mwehu. He was really a nasty person. "You know, if you would walk around and be a bit nicer, you wouldn't have to live so alone and aside from us." He challenged and became stern.

"What part of 'perfectly fine without any of you' was so hard to understand? Seriously… if you wanted to come over here to lecture me about life, you should have better saved you breath." He replied angrily.

"We were just trying to be nice!" Nala snapped at him angry about the way Mwehu reacted to her friend.

"What is it with you and this _being nice_ thing?" Mwehu snapped back frustrated. By this time, he brought a little distance between him and the other two cubs.

Nala and Simba looked at each other and rolled their eyes. There was nothing to gain here under these circumstances. They turned away. "You know, being friendly and nice to others is the essence of living in a pride. It keeps the harmony in our world." Nala said now with a sad expression. She thought about the circumstances of her birth and how her mother was treated by the rest of her old pride while she was pregnant. Simba saw this and put a paw on her shoulder.

"You wanna' know a lesson of life? Let me tell you one." Mwehu retorted and ran over to them blocking their way.

"_Who can tell what's gonna' happen to us—maybe it's true after all."_

He started singing as wandered from left to right.

"_That our life is just this on exam—in which we shall prove ourselves."_

He turned away and stared into the distance.

"_Only those who pass it with an A—are allowed to get into heaven!"_

Mwehu looked directly into the princes eyes but found no sign of an emotion evolving towards him.

"_For all the rest of the dirty bunch, there's left the hell of rebirth."_

He got back into his padding motion with gritted teeth.

"_As a hyena in the shadow lands, as a warthog with wind… As a meerkat in a colony that nobody wants to have around."_

With a quick motion, he got right into the face of Nala who got a bit afraid and stepped back.

"_To get us out of this destiny- we shall give it our best."_

"_Start every day with a prayer or two—instead of aspirin."_

Mwehu now looked at a small hill and ran upwards. Becoming curious now, the young prince and his friend followed him. Both found him waiting there and grinning in triumph.

"_Only those who run straight to confessional- as it was some kind of race."_

"_And a call out every sins of them- negotiates an absolution."_

With two final small jumps, the scarred cub revealed the African savannah to his two followers' right before he got back face to face with Simba. With anger in his eyes he continued.

"_I don't want to paradise, when the way up there is so damn hard!"_

"_I don't apply for any asylum- I do not mind staying here!"_

The trio now arrived on a lift with a small and rocky trail leading down into a valley. Mwehu jumped from rock to rock and came down on the ground as he was still followed by Nala and Simba. Both cubs were barely able to keep up the pace as every slip could make them tumble and could get them hurt.

"_Who can rightly share meal and den- and at dinner sits up straight."_

"_Who always says YES and THANKS- Whose chances are not bad."_

Mwehu turned his head towards his crowd and grinned with a taunting tone.

"_Who queues well-behaved in every line- with a shining coat."_

"_Who bares his destiny with humility- will get salvation:"_

For a moment, Simba and Nala lost sight of the other cub. The prince turned his head around but got no clue where he could have gone. The suddenly, Nala shrieked as Mwehu jumped out from a bush with a growl as he landed right beside the cream female. Nala tumbled and fell on her back as she spread her paws out to defend herself from him. Simba right away ran aside her and bared his teeth towards the aggressor.

"_We shall listen and pay attention- do what we are told." _

He turned his body to the side with his head still locked on them. He grinned again and suddenly backed away.

"_Subordinate and imitate- from the first day to the last."_

_Nala got back up and held en expression as to say. 'Next time you're finished'._

"_Always play by the rules of life- as THEY have ordered us."_

"_As they are written down in the book of life- in eternity amen!"_

The pale cream cub started running and was immediately given chase by the other two. They ran along the veldt as Simba and Nala finally got to look at pride rock again.

"_I don't want to paradise, when the way up there is so damn hard."_

"_Who knows if we'd have a better life- behind this door?"_

Now, Mwehu stopped and faced the other two in an instant.

"_I don't want to paradise- when the way up there is so damn hard."_

"_And before I beg on my knees- I don't mind staying here!"_

He led them back to the acacia tree as both Simba and Nala were out of their breaths. Mwehu had held them on their top of their speed so that they could catch up with him.

"_I don't want to paradise- if the way up there is so damn hard."_

"_If I'm not allowed to get in as I am- I'll stay outside before the door:"_

"_I don't want to paradise- if the way up there is so damn hard."_

"_I don't beg for any asylum- I don't mind staying here."_

Mwehu turned around and face both cubs that were totally out of breath. Inside his mind, he laughed at them. "You know… you can call yourself lucky that I revealed so much of my personality to you. I hope you're happy now." He said with taunts in his voice.

Right across him, Simba gasped exhausted and had to sit down. Nala felt a bit better since she could still stand. But she also was deeply tired. But she finally got a grip of herself and stood up. There was no chance of making up with Mwehu, she realized that now. But the least thing she could do was to give him something to think about.

"You dragged us around the pride lands to tell us that you hate playing by the rules and that you despise being a respectful member of a group. Fine, do what you want to do." Again she was only inches away from him, both could see the others refusal in their eyes. Nala spoke up again. "But one day, you will need some one. And when that day comes, you have no one to turn to. I don't know about you, but that would give me the chills." She said in a low voice as she and Simba padded back to pride rock and left Mwehu all there by himself.

The scarred cub just shook his head and wandered back into his den.

Up in the trees an old looking mandrill could do nothing but shake his head in disappointment.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong> The song I used towards the end of the chapter is called "Paradies (paradise)" and was performed by a German punk band called "Die toten Hosen (the dead pants)" the text is originally in German but was translated on by Valant. I just altered a few words here and there to match the rhythm of words a bit.


	5. past, present and future

Well… here is the fifth chapter of Heirs Part 1.

**Jatha**: Thanks for your comment and your opinion. As for the Author notes... I always thought that a little self-awareness is a good way to show that the writer is paying attention to the stuff he's putting out. Like for example: I know that there are a lot of clichés written in my story and that it is in now way the first of its kind. And I wanted to express that in the little notes. It's like to say "yeah I know that line was done a million times before!" **HOWEVER**, I'm still writing this for the people interested in it (the 4 or 5 that are out there :D) and if you guys think they are annoying, I have to obey and gladly do so. I'll tune them down.

**Reldor: **I hope you don't get the wrong impression out of Mwehu… at this point the reader is supposed to hate him ;)

Chapter 5: past, present and future

SMACK!

By now, Simba had stopped counting of how often he got beaten and pinned down by his cream coloured female friend Nala. For weeks, he had tried it so many times. Often he tried to catch her off-guard, sneaking up to her, surprising her in little moments of when he thought she was sleeping. But like all the other times before, he found himself with his back on the ground and his legs being immobilized by her grasp. His eyes locked on the taunting expression that lay on her muzzle. Oh… how he wanted to show her.

"This is getting old Simba!" Nala said with her typical smile as she slowly got off from him but still kept one paw on his forehead. "Why don't we do anything exciting for a change?" She mocked as he got back to a sitting position.

"I don't know what _you_ think but… the incident with the rhino herd was pretty exciting." The young prince said and rubbed his back. "Besides, I'm still remembering the speech I received for triggering those rhinos into a stampede. And… you know… shoving you into that river." He exclaimed with said eyes and hanging ears as he lay down on his stomach.

Nala on the other side walked up to him and now stood right over him. She lowered her head and her muzzle came on the exact same level as the golden cubs head. "Maybe but… remember that I was in for the ride the whole time during that thing with the rhino stampede. And as for the water incident, how could you know that didn't learn how to swim yet." Her voice now changed into a whisper. "Oh… by the way, thanks for rescuing me." She said and chewed on his ear.

"Haha… stop it Nala haha… that tickles…haha!" Simba rolled to the side to made her let go of him. "Oh, you're so in trouble!" The cream cub ran away but was given chase by her male friend. Both of them now sprinted across the land in front of pride rock.

In the distance, Sarafina never let her eyes of the most precious thing in her life. Her paws rested on her head and her thoughts came back to a few months earlier when she was dragging herself with Nala in her stomach through the lands with no idea where she was going. And now there was her daughter running around and being best friends with the future king of the pride lands. The place she called home for a long time. Not to mention that the prince was the son of her long time best friend Sarabi.

"What's on your mind?" A voice sounded from behind her and made her turn around. Her green eyes landed on a male lion with cream fur that had a hint of gold in it. His mane was dark brown.

Sarafina smiled as she spotted him. She and Ni had become really close since that day their paths crossed in the veldt. If it wouldn't have been for Ni, the lioness wouldn't have made it through that time. "What do you think?" She answered as the male lion sat down a few feet away from her.

"Come to think of it, probably the same thing you've been thinking since she arrived on this world." He answered as his eyes landed on Sarafinas little cub. "I don't know how you've been before she and I entered your life, but I have barely seen you in a bad mood over the last months."

The cream lioness' mind suddenly went back to the time before she got back to the pride lands…

_(Flashback)_

"_Kwao! What's going on?" Sarafina called as she ran up to a male lion with a ternish coat and blue eyes. Panic was running all over her face. She could hear roars in the distance which were driving her insane._

_The male lion walked up to her and nuzzled her gently. "It's Hiyana! She found out and mobilized her followers." He said as the same panic ran into him as through Sarafina. "This time… we're really screwed." He continued and glanced into the distance. The noise got louder and both adult lions looked over a hill where they waited for them to appear at any minute._

_(End flashback)_

"Sara? You're still here?" Ni gently asked as he got closer to the female lion.

Sarafina got back out of her trance and eyed him. "Yeah!" her voice was sad and she had her eyes closed to suppress some tears. The voice of Kwao was still echoing through her head. "You three made my life worth living after what happened."

"Us three?" Ni asked with a puzzled expression.

"Yes… Nala, Kicho… and you!" Her smile was warmth and thankful as she looked over from her lying position. Ni answered with a gentle smile of his own and laid down right beside her.

* * *

><p>Scar had to get out of there. This was just too much for him to handle. It was again one of those days on which his brother was making sure to remind him where his place in this pride and his kingdom was. Mufasa left no clue that he was still in charge and was on top of the packing order. And he was so sick of it. But when he was finally going to get rid of Mufasa, this will all be going to change. He saw Sarafina with this intruder just outside pride rock under that tree. It made his bad mood even worse. Now he was pacing back and fourth in a slight gorge where he often disappeared to have some time for his own. Mostly to gain some time to think about what to do about his brother.<p>

"Speak your mind!"

_I should have known she was following me._ He thought and stopped in his position. Scar turned around to find a pale tarnish-brown furred female lion sitting just a few yards away from him. She was a bit younger than him and had yellow eyes which gave her a darting look. Her figure was slim and made her look really agile.

Her presence was of both, annoyance and joy to him. On one paw, she was his best 'friend' if you can call it that. She was always bearing with him. On the other paw, the style in which she tried to achieve her goals, to him it was very unprofessional and immature. "You know what I am thinking about Zira. There's no need in going over it again." He replied in an uncaring tone and stopped padding around.

"You need to get rid of them soon, or else the prince will become aware of your true nature." Zira said in her persuading and raspy voice. She moved up to him and smirked seductive.

But Scar in no way reacted to her. "And how do you think I am supposed to do that?" The brown/red lion responded cold and without facing her.

The tarnish-brown female put her paws on his shoulders from behind and brought her muzzle to his ear. "It's really easy you know… just sneak up to the little hairball, and when you two are alone… SNAP!" She called and laughed evil. Scar immediately turned around with anger spread across his face.

"I often do I have to remind you that you have to be more delicate about those things. You can't just walk up to the kings' son and rip his head off. They will have no second thought and throw us out of the pride lands." He marched forward in his typical threatening way and forced Zira to step back until she had her back leaned against a boulder.

"But I thought you hated this place!" She responded in a defensive way.

King Mufasas brother only shook his head in frustration. "If I would hate this place, would I try to become the king? Always remember Zira, the pride lands are the most prestige way to live in the African savannah. There is no way more beautiful and precious then here. Don't ever get yourself driven away from this place." With piercing eyes he stared her down and the female lion stopped any movement from her side. "No! If I need to overthrow my brother and his son, I need to be a bit more _resourceful._" He smiled and stared over the edge of the gorge

"The hyenas!"

"Precisely!" He smiled. "If I'm going to take over the pride lands and dispose my relatives, I'm going to need them." Scar stood up and walked through the gorge. He would never consider the hyenas as partners. No, he wouldn't even dare to call them allies. Sometimes, he couldn't help but to smile over Zazu's comments and that he sometimes was right. The hyenas were indeed nothing more but slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers. But as henchmen and minions, they were doing their job.

Zira shrugged as she thought about the animals that lived across the border in the shadowlands. She never made a secret to Scar that she disliked them. In her eyes, she and Scar didn't need _low class_ animals for doing jobs that belonged to lions. "Those scavengers will only do as you say as long as you bring them chunks of meat for payment." She frowned and followed him.

"Oh… but underestimate the values that come form such a high numbered force slumbering out there." He stopped. "With them behind my back, not even the lionesses could rebel against me. I just need a catalyser."

Both lions shook up as they heard pawsteps approaching from the distance. Zira and Scar quickly moved behind a boulder and gazed into the distance to see who was coming. Zira was bringing out her claws and got ready to attack whoever might have or might have not been spying on them. But she right away felt a paw on her as Scar shook his head as to say… _Not so fast! Be patient._ The figure came into view as she realized that it was nothing more than lion cub padding through the gorge. Scar immediately identified the cub as the little troublemaker Mwehu. It seemed like the young lion was just here for what normal cubs referred as hanging around.

The brown/red lion was relieved that it was the outsider who crossed their way and none of the lionesses. He quickly walked out of his and Ziras hiding place and revealed them. "Well well… if it isn't the little orphan with the love for making friends?" He said taunting and stepped right in front of him with Zira by his side.

"Oh hey uhm… Scar! Right?" The cub said caught a little off guard by the older lion. He had heard of the kings' brother, but like most of the inhabitants of the pride, he never been really in contact with him.

The older lion wandered forward and sat down. "That's me indeed. You know it's really dangerous for a single cub to be out here on his own. You should be more careful about your little walks through the lands."

The young lion got some really bad vibes from this one. And for the first time in his life, Mwehu was unsure if he should still keep his pride and stand his ground, or fall back and let it be. He looked to the side and spotted Zira giving him icy glares. If he didn't play his cards right, his live could make a dramatic turn right here.

"So what are you doing here?" Scar asked challenging and smirked.

_Ahh… screw it! _"Oh, nothing much just… wandering around!"

"Wandering around?"

"Wandering around!" He replied taunting.

"Thwarting my plans!"

"Thwarting your plans?" Mwehu asked confused.

"Are you?"

"No!"

"Cause that would be bad!" Scar didn't stop to smirk evil.

"How bad?" The cub felt unsure.

"I would have to kill you!"

"Wow… that's bad!"

"Indeed!"

Mwehu realized that there was nothing to win here. This lion was exactly as crazy as the cubs thought _he_ was. And that fact that he answered in his challenging way with him didn't make things better. _Better get out of this smooth!_ "So uhm… can I help you?" He said nervous.

Scar went down to his level, grinned and stroke gently across the back of his head. "No! But maybe I can help you…" he kept the gentle gesture and eyed him.

"Uhm… I think I need an adult!"

"I am and adult!" With that word, Scar punched him in the stomach and smacked him across the face with his claws drawn out. Mwehu sailed a few feet away and landed hard on his side. The cub groaned in pain and curled up while holding his hurt stomach. "Just a little reminder, next time you talk with a member of the royal family, mind you manners and learn some respect."

Zira and Scar walked away and left the cub lying on the ground who was growling in pain.

* * *

><p>Night came and the pride lands slowly drifted away into sleep. The sun set upon the landscape and tainted it with a redgolden shimmer. The African wildlife came to rest and so came the pride of king Mufasa. All the lions and lionesses including their cubs wandered into the cave and turned into their sleeping positions. Soon, they all had entered the land of dreams. That meant every one except for four adult lions that settled themselves on top of the huge almost castle type rock formation.

Ni was really nervous about this meeting in the middle of the night. Ever since the king and queen asked him to accompany Sarafina and them into this, he felt his stomach making twists and turns while he felt more and more uncomfortable. Even by the time the lioness lead him up the sideway to the upper edge of pride rock. He felt his heart hanging in his knee caps. "I have a bad feeling about this." He mumbled as the cream lioness had to nearly drag him along upside.

She couldn't help but smile at the merely childish behaviour of the lion that merely became her best friend over the last months. "You keep saying this for the last fifteen minutes. Come on… what's going to happen?"

"Oh I don't know, but being hailed by the rulers of a kingdom in the middle of the night on a high place kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth." The male lion retorted with a raised eyebrow before he turned his head into the distance. To the side he could overview the whole kingdom which lay in the pale moonlight with the star filled sky above. Then he turned his head to the left and his eyes fell on the female lioness and he realized. _What in the world am I so worried about? My life is perfect right now. Meeting Sarafina was the best thing that ever happened in the time I've been on this world. There's nothing to worry here._ His gaze never left her as they slowly reached the end of the track and stopped on right on top as Mufasa and Sarabi came into view.

"There you are!" The queen called with a smile right away at them.

Sarafina and Ni sat just in front of the royal couple. King and queen both put on a genuine smile as they realized what they had in front of them. But just as Sarafina opened her muzzle to speak, Mufasa put up his paw and signalled them that he was going to have the first word. "First of all, we again thank you for your selfless act a few month earlier Ni!" He said and made the lion look to him in a confused way.

_Where is he going with this?_ He thought and edged up the left corner of his muzzle. _How often does he, do they have to thank me for it. I did what was necessary._

"You know, the rule of the pride lands that a stranger who saves one of our own." He glanced towards Sarafina and reminded her again that she was still a member of the pride lands. "Has the right to be in our depth. That means he's is allowed to stay in our kingdom." He stood up and laid a paw on the cream males shoulder. "And as king of these lands, it is my honour to name you... Ni… a full member of the pride lands." Mufasa smiled gently and Nis' eyes lit up.

_He really said that, finally… Kicho and I found a place that we can call home. _A single tear appeared in his eyes but Ni tried his best to make no one notice of that. He made short contact with Sarafina who looked at him with the same happiness that she showed when she observed Nala. He bowed his head in gracefulness. "Thank you your highness!"

Sarafina stepped up to him and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so happy for you!" She said. She really enjoyed the moment and for a split second wanted to keep this moment forever.

"Thank you!" Ni answered. He closed his eyes and just like the lioness, he lost himself in the moment the two shared. Neither of them realized the smirks their king and queen exchanged by the look towards them.

As they observed the scene in front of them, they realized that it was indeed the right time to come up with the more important point of the meeting. Mufasa cleared his throat and Sarafina and Ni pulled away to face their king. "Now… since we talked about the past and the present. Let's talk about the future." He said out loud and made the other two look up in confusion again.

The cream lioness twisted head to the side but kept glaring at her king. "The future, what future are you referring to?"

Sarabi now stood up and faced her friend. Her eyes were warm and held a special anticipation in them. "Well, our future of course, the future of our pride and kingdom." Sarabi laid a paw on her friends shoulder. "Ever since the days of our first king, it was natural for the heir to the throne to have a female lioness being presented to him to be his future queen."

Her friend widened her eyes as the first glimpses of realization came to her. "So… you mean that… we're going to talk about my daughter and your son to…" Sarabi nodded and Ni right away was at her side with his paws on her back and a genuine smile across his muzzle. Her mind drifted off as once again her memory took over.

_(Flashback)_

_Sarafina and Kwao ran across a grassy field while keeping a constant guard. They were almost there. In her status, the female lioness was in no condition to run like this for a longer time. As both of them ran over a lift, Kwao stumbled over a tree branch which lay right across the ground. The male lion rolled over and took Sarafina down with him. They landed hard on the ground and the lioness looked up in shock. _

"_Are you alright?" She immediately called and nudged him with her nose. Kwao looked up and didn't waste any time to get back to his feet. _

_Yet as he put some weight on his left hind leg, Kwao groaned up in pain. He could barely stand on the leg. Not to mention being able to walk, and definitely not bale to run. "No… this can't be happening!" he mumbled in defeat and frustration as panic ran across him. His eyes met hers and she immediately understood. _

"_Don't even think about it." Sarafina commanded and nuzzled him. She didn't have to be a genius to figure what the male lion was about to do next by the time he figured out what happened to his leg. _

_Kwao returned the gentle gesture and felt a tear running down his right eye. "Run! I won't be much of a help in your journey with this. They were going to catch up with us anyway. But now, they will have us caught while we are still trapped on this field." His eyes met hers one more time and he licked her cheek. "If you start running now, you may make it to the brushwood we talked about earlier. Hide there; find a way out of this hellhole." Kwao never did a really good job of keeping his real emotions away from her. She could tell that being separated from her was the last thing he wanted in this situation. _

_Sarafina's ears dropped to her head and she embraced him for what was going to be the last time. She looked at him as long as she could before running of in the fastest way she could pull up in her condition. The pain in her heart was merely unbearable. Her complete sense of time disappeared, minutes second and hours didn't matter. But she finally reached the brushwood Kwao called out to be their first hide out. Her thoughts drifted away to Hiyana and what she had done to her and Kwao. All this hate, all this devastation… just because of her having a crush on a lion._

_(End flashback)_

"Sarafina?" Sarabi said and waived her paw in front of the lionesses head.

Her mind drifted back into the real world and she realized that the other three lions stared towards her in concern. "Uhm… yes! I just had something come to my mind that I had to think of. What were we talking about?" She asked as if she had wandered of this reality for a few moments.

"We were talking about our cubs becoming king and queen in the future." Mufasa said gently but with concern over his voice.

Sarafina remembered and smiled. "Alright… let's talk about Nala and Simba."

The king looked at his wife and gestured her that it was her turn to grasp the word. "I know that it's still early for us to ask for our son to ask for your daughters paw. But since the two are barely seen without each other, we thought it would the best to take a first step into a later marriage." Sarabi said. King Mufasa was not known to be a traditionalist and holding onto every tradition with all his power. However, the philosophy of the circle of life was something he really believed in. And so his focus was to, at all costs, keep the circle of life going. That included the early and careful choice of the future wife for the young prince.

"Did you really think this through? You know how the two act when they are around each other. I get a feeling that there won't be any kingdom left when they finished ruling it." Sarafina found a rather rare character treat of hers to use for this news, sarcasm. "That means of course if the reason for you choosing my daughter is that you need someone to tame your son of turning these lands into a huge playground." She treated the king and queen with a slyly smirk.

Sarabi accepted the challenge. "Oh trust me… By the time Simba will be king, there will be no chance and necessities of him being tamed since he had plenty of time training responsibility. You know… with keeping your daughter from dragging him into trouble." The queen responded challenging. This was what she had waited for. _Like mother, like daughter!_ It was one of those rare occasions where she and Sarafina could have one of their rather famous verbal comeback challenges like she had done earlier. Back when the cream lioness had lived in the pride lands for the first time. Some might think, at a certain age and experience. They might have outgrown it… but it's one of those things that sometimes never die.

"Whatever!" Sarafina answered with a calming gesture. Her motion suddenly became stern and formal as she faced both members of the royal family. "I accept your request of my daughter being betrothed to Simba." As she saw how Mufasas and Sarabis eyes lit up, she quickly continued. "But however, I think it is just too early for us to hammer their fates into Rafikis tree right now." She closed her eyes. "There still just a few months old and as you know, cubs can change their attitude and behaviour a lot in that age-"She thought about her youth and how Taka had changed just in the span of a few months.

"Alright… we wait for a few more months and then make their betrothal official." Mufasa intervened.

The two female lions nodded in agreement and with that, they quickly made their way back down pride rock. The king and queen padded in front and Sarafina and Ni kept themselves in the back while having their eyes locked in each other the whole time.

"I congratulate you! In just a few months, you completely turned your life around for the better. I still don't know the whole story of what happened to you but… I'm sure whoever the father of Nala is, must be the proudest lion in the world." Ni said into her ear to make sure that the spoken words were spoken just between the two of them.

The lioness smiled gently. "Her father was a great lion. To bad she'll never meet him." She noticed a little sadness appearing on her friends' muzzle. "But to be honest with you, Nala is the luckiest cub in the world to have two fathers." Ni gaze went wide. "You have been pretty much her father since her birth." Sarafina remembered what Mufasa said earlier. _Since we have talked about the past and the present, let's talk about the future._ Her present and future seemed to turn out pretty bride. One half lying down there in the cave, and the other half walking right beside her into the direction of mentioned first half.

* * *

><p>At this point, neither Sarabi nor Sarafina had told their children of the arrangement they had agreed on the other night. Having both cubs get knowledge that their future had been predetermine in more than one way, possibly could have had a negative effect of their cub hood and maybe their friendship. It was just like Sarafina suggested, now was the moment to lay low and let them live fourth.<p>

It was already noon across pride rock when Nala and Kula settled down in the grassy field that lay right in front of the king's home. For Nala this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a little deeper into Kulas' emotional side. She couldn't avoid to realize that she and Chumvi were acting quiet different every time they were together. That is to say, every time where Kula and Chumvi were together instead of one of them being on their own.

And just in this moment, the caramel tried her best to hide the fact that her eyes were slightly searching the area for their dark brown friend. Of course, Nala noticed and tried if she could push her buttons a little bit. "Hey Kula, you're alright?" She asked and kept her aqua eyes in her typical innocent way.

"Eh… uhm… yes of course I am alright! Why shouldn't I?" Her friend replied and again tried to hide her eyes filling with a little nervousness.

But once more, the cream coloured cub had no problem figuring her female friend out. _Oh, this is gonna' be so much fun! Too bad Simba isn't here._ "I don't know! You seem to be a bit fidgety since we got here." She could almost hear the wheels turning in Kulas' head as she wanted to come up with a good comeback.

"Nah… come on Nala. Why should I be fidgety? There isn't any reason to be." Kula answered and looked to the side.

Nala in no way believed her. "Ah, just a little hunch I got." She smirked slyly but right away continued. "Maybe it has something to do with a certain dark brown cub not being here right now." She did it. To her Kula had always been an open book. With every inch of her body, the caramel cub tried to hide the fact that Nala was spot on.

But in this moment, Kula showed that she wouldn't lay down that easily. _Watch it Nala, two can play this game._ "If I'm looking fidgety, it probably is for the same reason of which you have been so talk active. You know… with a certain gold furred young prince being not around." _Hah! Right back at her._

"Me? I'm completely calm. Why should I be nervous about Simba? Instead of _you_ and Chumvi, we can _act_ totally normal around each other." Nala talked back to her. From the get go, she realized that her friend tried to turn a leaf around. Yet she realized she didn't actually deny any of the assumptions which Kula tried to force out of her. But she had to admit that Kula played her out this time. Shifting the focus from her friend to herself made her forget about asking Kula out about Chumvi.

"Hey Nala! Hello Chumvi!" A voice from the right sounded and the two cubs shifted their heads. It was Tama who came now into view and greeted them with warm smile.

"Hi Tama!" Nala greeted her back as the first cub she ever could call friend sat down right beside her.

"So… I was wondering. Why don't we hang out for today, you know… just the three for us. It really has been a while." The tarnish/orange cub asked with anticipation in her voice.

Nala and Kula exchanged glances as both held the same reaction in their faces. "Thanks Tama but… we already had plans with Simba and Chumvi. They must be here any moment." "I'm sorry… but maybe you can join us. It won't make a difference if we're four or five." Nala answered in the best possible way to not set up her friend.

Tama face filled with disappointment. Over the last month, she barely had been able to spend some time with Nala and her caramel coloured friend. Today, she finally had enough of it and took the offensive approach, only to realize that her time with Nala and Kula would be interrupted by… _Simba_! "Sorry ladies, but I'll pass on that one. Just the thought of having to deal with our golden prince for far longer than necessary doesn't seem like the fun I have in mind."

Nala took a little offence on that. "Oh come on Tama. He isn't that bad. You two just have to spend some time to get along." She said.

"Yeah exactly like that time in the snake valley." Tama answered in a sarcastic tone.

It was in that moment that the trio spotted the two male cubs running down pride rock and coming into their direction. Kulas eyes lid up as her gaze met Chumvis while he engaged into a race with his golden companion. To her side, Tama rolled her eyes and faced Nala. Simba was the first to reach the female cubs and grinned in triumph.

"Hah… first in the packing order, first in this race." He yelled in his typical cocky gesture. "What's up?" The young prince called and turned towards the girls. "Hey Nala!" he greeted his best friend as they bumped their foreheads into each other. He then waived his paw to greet Kula before his eyes fell on Tama. "Oh hey there! Wanna' play with us?" Simba offered.

"No… I got some lessons I have to access. Maybe I see you later!" Tama answered without reacting to Simba and said goodbye to Chumvi, Kula and Nala.

Nala sadly watched after her as she left the group behind. Yet she turned to her golden furred friend as he moved beside her. "So… did your father show you the kingdom yet?" The cream cub asked and nudged him with her left paw.

"No! He said he was to busy keeping everything in order." Simba replied with disappointment and dropped to the ground. "He promised me he's gonna' do it tomorrow." His eyes were closed and he had his head hanging down. "And… what have you been up to?"

Kula immediately eyed Nala who was just about to spill the thought she had just found out a few moments earlier. Her face was stern and held the impression that said. _Do it and you will not wake up in the next mourning!_ Nala shut her muzzle and looked to the side. "Oh nothing much! Just talking about girly stuff you know!" She could see that the prince did not believe her. But the cream cub continued. "So anyway, let's go"

All of them stood up and trotted away over the savannah of the pride lands.

From up pride rock, Sarafina and Ni had the best view and could see far away into the land. And so they could see the group of four cubs running and playing along in the field that spread in front of the huge rock. They were accompanied by the blue hornbill Zazu which served king Mufasa as major-domo. She felt the male lion that was named the newest member of the pride moving close to her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Look at them, they seem so innocent." She sighed and Ni replied with a chuckle.

"They sure are!" Ni said.

In the distance, the four nearly reached a brushwood which signalled that they were slowly getting out of sight. "We better send someone after them." Sarabi suddenly said from behind and took a position right beside the other adult lions.

"I'll go!" It sounded form the side.

"Look who has come back from the dead. Long time no seen Kicho!" Ni called as the black and white pied landed beside Zazu.

Kicho faced Zazu and put his arm around the blue hornbill. "Yeah, I just came around to give my old pal Zazu a little help." He laughed and could see that Zazu still had a distant look on his beak. But even though he answered him by throwing his wing over the other birds shoulder. "Well… no time for more chat. Or else they'll get to far away." He said and took off into the air.

"Make sure that they're fine. After all… you're watching over the future king and queen." Sarafina called after the pied.

Zazu on the other hand shivered a bit. "Oh! Just the thought of Simba and Nala being in charge send shivers down my feathers."

"Relax Zazu! They're still young. A lot can and will happen until they are going to rule this land." Sarabi answered and the group glanced into the distance and towards a bright future.

* * *

><p><strong>CREDITS:<strong> credits go to Teamfourstar for providing the original material for the dialog between Mwehu and Scar form Dragonball Z Abridged. Check them out at , their stuff is really hilarious.

**Authors note:** So much for this chapter. I guess you kind of figured out where I'm going with Sarafina and Ni I hope she and I don't come off as a dickheads in handling the thing with Kwao and that just a few months after his "disappearance", she is happily spending some time with another male.

Okay… I can't tell you when the next chapter is going to appear… with my intermediate examination of my job training at the end February. And my team sports, there won't be that much time to get going with the story.

Besides, I have to figure out how to go about the next parts. I want to set up a semi-new character which I want to give a role in the third part, but I don't know if I should and the how and when. I don't want to turn this thing into a sub-plot clusterfuck. So I need some time to think this through.


	6. The good, the bad and the ugly

Alright… so I still managed to get the next chapter done in my personal schedule. Up to this point, I'm getting through this surprisingly good. The motivation to write this is still high. The feedback, which to this point was positive, helps a lot. Even if it wasn't that much., but each of your opinions is really helpful. Thanks a lot at this point.

**Reldor:** Actually… no! He's just an a''''''!

**Etain-Skirata: **Thanks, like I said earlier, it is really encouraging to read. (Giving the history of my English lessons)

So… here we go.

Chapter 6: The good, the bad and the ugly

Pride lands!

Everywhere animals talked about the kingdom which lay in the middle of Africa and was ruled by king Mufasa, their hearts filled with joy. It was one of those places that seemed like being the closest to what animals could call paradise. Over the centuries, the lions that migrated into other kingdoms told the stories of this place. They told of how rich and green the grass looked, how beautiful the hills and the veldts lay especially when they were soaked by the red light of the sunset. And they told the others about the animals inhabiting this beautiful kingdom. And since Mufasa took his place on the throne, the pride lands flourished even more. It was a time of great joy.

The pride lands had always been the right place for cubs to grow up. Here they had to put up with far less dangers than in other parts of the African wildlife. And it showed on every single day. On one day, the two cubs called Chumvi and Kula had settled themselves in the high grass beside a small boulder as they took this opportunity to relax and just let the sun shine on their fur. It was still early so that the sun wasn't that hot and the two cubs didn't have to lie down in a shadow.

Kula really enjoyed her time with the dark brown cub and for once not having Simba and Nala around. She really enjoyed being friends with them. But today was her day alone with Chumvi. Right now she lay on her back with her head resting just beside Chumvis front paws while the male cub lifted his head up with closed eyes and enjoyed a light breeze. "Hach… life is great isn't it?" She asked and inhaled the fresh air of the landscape.

Chumvi smiled and looked at her. "Yeah! No parents, no duties… just being alone and doing nothing but relax." The male cub dropped to his side scratched his head with his paw. Kula now moved to her feet and jumped straight upon her male friend. "OOF!" Chumvi yelled as he felt her weight on his rips. "Kula… I thought we were going to relax." He mumbled and tried to shove her off of him.

"Yeah well… snoozing time is over. Let's rumble." The caramel female laughed as she held on to him with her paws. "Don't you dare try to escape from me!" She warned him.

Underneath her, Chumvi just could get an opening and slipped out from the female cubs grasp. He quickly rolled to his feet. Now it was his turn to attack. "You asked for it. Let's rumble." With a push by his head, he had Kula falling to the side and now stood upon her. The caramel female had her eyes locked on him as she now was again on her back. This time however, she stretched her arms out in defence. Chumvi quickly jumped onto her and gently laid his arms on her shoulders. "What do you know! I win." He smiled triumphant.

Kula under him held her paws to his chest and smiled whimsically. "Oh dear! Now I have to hear about this from him for the rest of the week." She replied as her head fell to the side. Her gaze fell on a pair of eyes that were set on them with a sad expression. _Who's that?_ She thought as she tried to figure out where she had seen them before. Kula had never seen a cub with two eye colours. One of them was the usual yellow outside with brown orbs like most lions have. The other had a read outside to the brown. For a second, the female cub thought she had made out a beige fur in the grass, but it quickly disappeared.

"Hey Kula! I'm still here you know!" She heard Chumvi calling from on top of her as he showed concern for his friend.

"I noticed by the weight that's cutting off my stomach from breathing!" She teased and swiped the strange sight away. "Jeez, why do you have to eat so much." It was nothing new for her to make fun of Chumvi's so called appetite. _Not that he is fat. I would never say that. To be honest, his_ _figure is kinda… perfect. Wait! Did I really say that?_

Chumvi at that moment had a different thought. _She thinks I'm eating too much. Maybe I should rethink my eating behaviour. Maybe she'll like me being a bit slimmer. Wait… am I really concerned about the way SHE thinks of me?_

They both snapped out of each of their thoughts as both realized that they were staring into each other eyes. And just as they stopped staring, both burst out in laughter. Chumvi went off from her and dropped onto his back as he held his stomach. Kula lay on her stomach and punched her right front paw into the ground as she tried to get a hold of herself.

"What are we laughing about?" Chumvi asked as he wiped away a tear.

"I don't know!" Kula said as she tried to that she was blushing, if lions could do that.

Both cubs settled down right beside each other and looked into the distance. "I wonder what Nala and Simba are up to right now!" Chumvi asked as he rested his head on top of his female friends.

Kula noticed and smiled. "Maybe the same as we are. If they were off to something big, they would have brought us along."

"Are you sure? Those two are not the type of lions that just lie down and relax in the sunlight." The dark born cub replied.

"I'm sure they're fine."

* * *

><p>"HEY! Why don't you pick up someone your size!" Simba called down the hill.<p>

"Like… you?"

"Oops!"

The hyenas jumped out of their positions and darted into the direction of the young prince. Simba pushed Nala a little further with his paw so that one of the hyenas' fangs missed her just by inches. "This way!" He said to his friend as the cubs ran and jumped though the path which was covered with elephant bones. _Dad was right! I should have never got here. And I definitely should not have brought her along._ He thought and punched himself inside. But there was no time for that now. They had to get out of here. The cubs barely made it up another elephant head as one of the hyenas snapped its fangs at them.

But just as Simba and Nala jumped over the head, they looked down an elephant's backbone in front of them that presented itself as a huge slide. "Guess we don't have much of a choice!" Simba said as he leaped of the ground with his cream coloured friend right behind. The cubs rolled down the backbone and at the end of it sailed off into the air.

"Do you see them?" A female hyena called to her companions and growled evil as the three sprinted across their territory.

"No! But they couldn't have gone too far." Another one replied.

Just at this moment, the third one spotted two balls of hair flying through the air and landing hard on a hill made of bones. "Uh he… ha-ha heeee!" he yelled and pointed into their direction.

"Good thinking Ed!" The female answered. The trio picked up speed and arrived at the hill.

In the meantime, Nala followed Simba as fast as she could. _Don't fail me claws!_ She thought in desperation and hammered her paws into the bones. The gap between her and the golden prince was getting bigger and her paws started to slip away. "Simba!" She said as she felt her body drifting backwards. But he didn't hear her. Nala glanced back in horror as she saw the female hyena gaining up on her. No… she wasn't gaining up on her, Nala was loosing ground. "SIMBA!" She once again screamed before she could only shriek up. As the female lion cub turned around again, she looked directly in the eyes of the hyena.

"Hello beautiful!" She mocked her.

Upside, Simba finally managed to get to the ground. "We did it!" he said out of breath. But then he heard his name being called in dispair. "No!" he gasped as he saw his best friend slipping down inch by inch. _Oh no! Not on my watch!_ Simba growled inside and darted back. He bared his teeth as he reached Nala and stretched out his claws. The hyena had her fangs out and bit at Nala. But just in the last second. He struck her right across the cheek.

Nala didn't waste any time and ran straight up the hill and now had Simba right behind her. "Come on, in here!" She called and pointed to a cave which lay just about to their left. She led the golden cub into it but had her eyes widen in shock as she saw what lay just in front of them. She had led herself and Simba right into a dead end.

"If we can make it up the skeleton over there, we can maybe jump up to the edge." Simba yelled and the two climbed as quickly as they could onto the rips of another elephant. They jumped on a piece of left over skin where they could stand and jumped. But the end of the wall was too far and they couldn't reach it until…

SNAP!

The cubs fell straight through the skin and landed hard on the ground. Nala turned around and heard the hyenas mocking them. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"

"Simba! Don't leave me!" She whispered to the golden cub which right away walked in front of her in a protective stance. The female cub was full of fear as she saw her life coming to an end just in the next minute.

"Don't worry Nala! I am not going anywhere." Simbas voice changed immediately. Out of a sudden he was determined, was it out of true courage or of desperation. But he was not going to let her die because of his stupidity. He pulled together all his energy and roared. Well… what you could call a roar. All what came out was nothing more like the sound a kitten does when it screams at the top of her lungs.

The hyenas on the other hand were really amused. "Heh… that was it? Do it again… come on!" The female taunted him as they were barely a few feet away.

Simbas roar left no effect on their attackers. For a moment, he was scared to death again. Every moment of bravery had vanished from his side. This was when he realized that there was no way out of this. But then he looked back and saw his cream coloured friend standing behind him. No… he couldn't give up just like that. He dragged them into this; he's going to get them out of here. He breathed heavily and….

"ROOOAAAARRRR!"

That wasn't him!

"Huh?" All three of hyenas gasped as shrug up as they heard the call of a full grown lion echoing through the cave. And in the next minute, they found themselves confronted with king Mufasa who jumped on them from the side. With his paws he stroke at them as the grey animals tried to get away from the lion.

Zazu quickly rushed to the two cubs still standing on the same place as they glanced stunned towards the scene. By now, Mufasa had the trio shoved to the ground as he stood over them and growled in anger. All three of the hyenas babbled wildly in chaos and made the king of the pride lands really annoyed and angrier. "SILENCE!" He ordered and made them stop immediately. "IF YOU EVER COME NEAR MY SON AGAIN…!"

"Oh, this is your son!" The female hyena said in a defensive and tried her best to find a way to talk herself out of this situation. "Did you know that?" She than asked back and turned to one of her male companions which lay right next to her.

"No. Me? I didn't know—No, did you?" He asked back but did a lousy job in denying that he knew all along.

"No, of course not!" the female and both hyenas turned to the third of the bunch. "ED?"

The one called Ed just nodded his head and completely blew the little piece of cover the hyenas had built to this point. Mufasa had enough and let out another ear crushing roar. "Eh heh… toodles!" Banzai said and with that, the trio ran away in the direction where they came from.

Simba watched his father as he glanced after the hyenas and the let out a gasp of relieve. At first, the young prince wanted to jump at him and hug his father in joy. But then he realized what just had happened. Mufasa gave him a lot of freedom as a young cub. Of course he was lectured when he did something wrong. But he never disobeyed him. He never did something that has been this strictly forbidden by the king. But he had to say at least something. "Dad I…!"

"You deliberately disobeyed me!" Mufasa said and cut his son off. He was hurt, in one of the most hostile ways… in his trust. He thought he could trust his son to never put himself in any mortal danger. But he exactly did that.

Simba immediately realized that. "Dad! I'm sorry"

"Let's go home!" Now was not the place to lecture him, the safety of his son and supposed daughter in law weight heavier. He marched forward and for a long time didn't even bother to look at his son.

Behind him, Simba dropped his ears to his head and padded after his father as Nala kept as close to him as possible. "I thought you were really brave!" She said and licked his left cheek. Even though it had no effect on his mood, the golden furred cub gave his best friend a quick smile which only lasted for an inch of a second.

* * *

><p>"<em>I am an adult!"<em>

The words still hammered through his mind. Carefully, Mwehu observed the two red marks that now ran over his right cheek. He had settled down at a small waterhole and used the surface as a mirror. He could feel that his head was swollen from the strike which he received just a few days ago. It was his first encounter with the kings' brother Scar. And it was the first time that he really felt pain. The adult lion hit him just across his head when their paths crossed in coincidence. But the pain wasn't the strangest part. It was the fact… that he _liked_ it. He had finally found a superior being to him. Not that there was any chance that he was the strongest lion in the pride lands. He was after all still a cub.

But the fact that the pain and the rage coming from this humiliation gave him something… something to achieve… a goal. Up to this point he was just wandering around through the pride lands, getting into arguments that little kids had. Other than that, he just wanted to be on his own. Now he had a goal. "I'm going to show him. Show everybody that I'm not just a little outcast, a runt, an outsider. _I will have my revenge on you Scar, even if I have to go through each and every one of you._ He glanced back to the acacia tree where the mandrill was looking at him. _Don't even think about reading my mind monkey. I'd really hate to have to run you over too. _

Yards away, Rafiki narrowed his eyes and got in contact with the ones of pale-cream furred cub. He pointed his stick at him. _You're wrong little Mwehu, I know wat' yur' thinkin'. I'ill show yur true colour. Even if I hav' to let yu' bring me down._

"COME ON… SAY IT!" The scarred cub yelled from his place towards the old mandrill sitting in the tree.

With a quick motion, Rafiki jumped down the tree, branch by branch before he landed smooth on the ground. "I hav' nothin' to say!" He mumbled and still went closer to the young lion. "I rather show yu'." With a quick motion he grasped the cub by his head and made him come face to face once again with his reflection in the water. "I don't know how yu' got dis one but… if yu' don't stop wit' yur' current behaviour, ther'll be much mor' to come." He continued in his calm voice.

At this point, Mwehu could already speak along as how often he had heard the exact same order of words from the old monkey, even compared to the few months he'd been on this world. And for the most part, he didn't even care. But it was the last couple of words that had some influence with him "There _will be more to come!"_ He knew what situations caused his face to be tormented like this even in his young age. And the last ones could have been avoidable. But he didn't care… all that mattered was to get back at him, get back at them. "If I'm going to avoid being tortured like that, I have to be better like them… in any aspect of fighting."

Rafiki glanced after him as he slowly distanced himself from him. "Dat wasn't what I had in mind." He spoke and covered his face with his hand. "It was mor' like… yu' need dem', dey' need yu'."

Mwehu turned around at an instant. "I KNEW IT! I knew you would go down this path again. How often do I have to tell you? I DON'T need them." He called back angrily before facing the other direction again.

On the other side of the field, the mandrill kept his calm. He didn't want to play this card. It was a risky thing to reveal this to the mentally instable cub. By giving away this little inside, he would risk to lose his chance of integration forever. But he had to; this situation was getting out of hand. "I see… so dat's why I hear yu' cryin' in yur' sleep some nights."

The cub stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes widened. For a moment, he felt his heart being ripped out of his chest. Never in his life did he show any sign of weakness, he never cried for help, he never called on anyone else to fight his battles, even if he was being tortured for that. Yet this monkey knew something that even Mwehu had no guaranteed prove himself. He only sometimes had the feeling of dry tears across his eyes in the mourning. _No reaction, no emotion… no weakness._ He thought and walked away.

It was about the same time, that miles away, at the feet of pride rock, nearly the exact same scene took place like the one that just went down at the acacia tree. Just like the scarred cub Mwehu, a cub was looking into a puddle of water which was left over from the rain early in the mourning. Just like Mwehu the young male lion used the water surface as mirror and observed his reflection. But there was a slight difference to what just happened a few miles ago. This cub was deeply disturbed by his appearance. _Disfigured… for the rest of my life. And all of that just because of the fact I tried to be nice to a stranger. _

His gaze fell on his left eye; there was still the yellow outside that was usual for all lions of the pride lands. But as he got to the right one, he realized that its colour had put on a red taint. _That bastard nearly blinded me on that one. _He looked down on his throat and noticed the claw and bite marks that nearly went like a collar all around his neck and left red spots on his beige fur. At this realization, he gave his pain a name… Mwehu!

But not only was his face tormented by the events a few months ago. In his eyes, his soul was heavily scratched too. He had gotten to know Kula quiet early; both their mothers had been close friends. Though it was early for a lion cub to think about later relations, he hoped that one day the two of them would be a happy family. But then he met Mwehu and got into a fight with him. Now, just like the lone lion, he was scarred for the rest of his life. And now; his chance to get some sort of attraction from the caramel female was going close to zero. Not to mention the fact that he spotted her earlier with that dark brown cub called Chumvi. Oh how he wished he could change places with him. But thanks to Mwehu, this was over.

It was the day on which the young cubs were presented to the pride by their mothers and got associated with the others. It was on this day that he first met the troublemaker. He was just concerned about him, just asked why he looked so sad and worried. And what did he get, an angry response, a smack across the eye and a bite on the neck. Oh how he hated him.

"JIWE!" That was his mother calling for him. He gave his reflection a short gaze and padded away from the waterhole back to where the pride waited.

Nala had a bad feeling about leaving Simba back with his father. She too felt responsible for sneaking off to the elephant graveyard and tricking Zazu into landing under the rhino's butt. And the impression that king Mufasa made told her that Simba, not only had to sustain a heavy speech, but had to face more serious consequences once he got back to pride rock. For the most time, the cream cub kept her head close to the ground. Only once in a while she looked up to the blue hornbill. But the bird kept his gaze straight ahead as he flew over the female young lion.

"Zazu! I'm sorry for what happened today." She finally said out sadly and let her ears drop to the side. "I know this comes a bit late but… Simba never intended to put us in serious danger. And we never wanted to hurt you." Her voice was weak and her eyes were wet from small tears.

The kings' major-domo slowed down and eyed her. "I'm just glad that you two are fine." He said with a calm expression. "It's not my place to lecture you. For now just get back home and start again tomorrow." Zazu didn't wanted his words to come around as being cold and uninterested in Nala making uo for what the cubs had done earlier. But as he saw how the female lions' head dropped even further he decided to continue. "Nala! You and Simba are the future of our pride, the future of the kingdom we call home. It is my duty to keep you safe. But that doesn't mean that I don't car for you. I don't know what I would do if something happens to you."

Nala took a deep breath. _He meant, keep you safe. Not 'out of trouble_'. But then she realized what he said before that. The _future of kingdom we call home_. "So… you were serious with this whole thing of me and Simba being betrothed?" She mumbled in surprise.

Over her, Zazu noticed that and stopped as he landed in front of her. "Yes, your parents have barely settled things. They didn't want to make it official and solid since you two are so young."

So she was supposed to be the next queen of the pride lands. She was supposed to rule the kingdom together with Simba, her best friend. That was really a weird thing thought. But… she kinda liked it. Out of the sudden, the thought of their parents' aranging this marriage made something else come to her mind. "Zazu?"

"Yes!"

"Does mom know of what happened today? Does the rest of the pride know what happened?"

Zazu eyed her again. "The only ones who know at this point are your parents. And for the interest of all, we're going to keep it that way." The bird smiled and made the cream coloured cub feel a little better. Yet Nala knew she had to expect a similar heavy tongue-lashing from her mother as well as her golden furred friend.

* * *

><p>"You know! There's something I realized today." Tojo yawned from his spot on top a rock in the middle of the veldt as he looked down on the group of cubs that he called his friends. "Without our prince and his partner in crime, the pride lands are as half as exiting as with having them around." On the ground were Kula and Chumvi who lay right beside each other, both gave him a gesture of approval but tried their best to not move any more muscles then necessary.<p>

To his right laid Tama on a slightly smaller boulder with the same bored expression as the ogre coloured male cub. But her reaction to Tojos statement was a sly grin and a shook of her head. "For once, I enjoy having Simba and his antics not being a part of the day." She said a bit mocking and lifted her head to receive a slight breeze that ran over the landscape. The sun was already setting and the group of young lions spent the evening hours just staring into the sky until the older lionesses called for bedtime.

Down the boulder, Chumvi pulled his head up and face the tarnish-orange female with a glance of disbelieve. "Come on, Tama! Why do you hate Simba that much? Beside him being a bit cocky about this whole _future king_ thin, he's pretty harmless."

"I don't hate him! It's just his antics and his behaviour that sometimes annoy me. In a different situation, the two of us could really get along well." She said in defence. Indeed she held nothing serious against the young prince. Of course she would never admit it, but she was a bit jealous of Nala spending so much time with Simba instead of her, however someone would interpretive that.

Just a few feet away Jiwe walked past a small tree and spotted the group sitting together aside and on top the two rocks. His glance wandered on the dark brown cub lying beside Kula in the grass. A small growl went out of his muzzle. But due to the distance, none of the others noticed. He decided to make a stop before he went closer to them. "Uhm… hey guys! Can I join you?" All of their heads tilted up and the group looked at the newcomer.

"Yeah of course Jiwe!" Kula said with a slight smile and immediately lit up the beige furred cubs' mood. He gladly padded over to them and dropped right beside the caramel female. He made sure that his fur came in close contact with Kulas and Jiwe made sure that the cub on the other side of her noticed. She gave him a quick nod. But then her gaze fell on Jiwes right eye and that it was tainted in red. For a quick second, she narrowed her eyebrows, but didn't pay any more attention to it and looked away...

The beige cub caught this and for a second frowned. But he didn't want to get hat road right now. "So… uhm Kula! I was wondering… if…"

"NALA!" Tama called out and all the attention of the group turned towards the young cream furred lion that was accompanied by Zazu and walked right up to them. Right away, they stood up and quickly met her halfway from their hang out place.

Jiwe stayed were he was with an open mouth as he realized how he just had been ignored by all of the others, especially Kula. "Sure! Don't mind me. It's not that I had anything important to say." The beige furred cub let out another growl and got to his feet. Quietly he walked away from the scene while the others stood by their female friend.

At this point, they had no idea of what happened to Nala and Simba during the day. So of course all of the others were asking their questions at the same time making it hard of the female cub to understand any of them. "Jeez, guys calm down. You're acting like a bunch of little cubs that get in contact with their mother of the first time in weeks." Nala giggled as she signed them to settle down. Tama and Tojo gave her a mischievous glare as to say… we _are _cubs. Nala was just about to tell them about the elephant graveyard when…

"There you are young lady!" A stern and upset voice interrupted the scene and Nala shook her head up. Her eyes fell immediately on Sarafina and Ni who approached the group of little lions and right away darted forward to the cream furred cub. "I guess you all head back to pride rock!" Sarafina ordered the rest, which they did without any further arguments. Kula and Tama gave her a quick nudge with their heads as they followed Chumvi and Tojo back to the prides home. Nala on the other paw sat down with dropped ears and stared towards the ground. A second later, she felt Nis' paw on her back as the male lion had settled himself right beside her. Sarafina took a deep breath, checked if the three of them were alone, and started.

"What in the great kings' name were you thinking? You and Simba were lying directly into our faces when you said you were going to the waterhole." She spoke with the same disappointment that Nala realized in Mufasas voice earlier. At first Nala wanted to respond that she didn't knew where Simba was taking her. But that didn't change the fact that they tricked their mothers into letting them run off.

The cub didn't respond and kept her head towards the floor. "I don't know mom. Simba told me about this really cool place and we…"

"And you thought you could just run off, loose the bird and get yourself killed." Her mother interrupted her and gestured wild with her front paws.

"Where exactly did you get the idea to go to the elephant graveyard anyway?" Ni asked calmly from beside the little cub. His voice was a little more calm and diplomatic. But Nala still noticed that he was exactly as upset as her mother. "I know that Simba went into this knowing about the place but… where did he get it from?" The cream male kept his calm voice.

Nala thought about it but realized that Simba never told her about what happened earlier the day. "I don't know!"

Sarafina realized and sat down still with her stern impression. She knew that one day the two cubs would do something really stupid that would get them in serious trouble but… she believed it not to be this life threatening. Not to mention that she and the prince abused her and Sarabis trust. "I see. Well in that case, since grounding you two would only keep you two together for the whole day. I think it might be the best idea to keep you and Simba separated for quiet a while." She called out.

The heart of the cream furred female sank immediately into her back legs and her mouth flapped open. With wide eyes, she glanced at her mother ready to protest. "But mom, I definitely learned my lesson, we will never do something that crazy again. Please don't do this mom!" She pleaded almost in a crying tone. "I… I'm really sorry."

Sarafina kept her face and. "As much as I love to see you two having fun together, there has to be some sort of punishment for your act." She said but changed her expression to a more genuine one. "Ni! Would you excuse us for the rest of the evening?" She said gently and the male lion stood up. He quickly nuzzled Nala and then for a longer time Sarafina before he gave them a good night greets and walked away. The lioness lay down in the grass and looked at her daughter. "Come here Nala!" She said.

The cub padded over to her and settled herself down in the lionesses' front legs where she curled up to come muzzle to muzzle with her mother. "Nala sweetheart! Never ever give me the creeps like that. You're the most precious thing to me. And just the thought of you being ripped away from me like this, would be the end of me." She said now with concern and caring. She moved her head forward and nuzzled her gently.

Nala felt a tear running down her cheek, and returned the gesture. "I'm sorry mom!" She once again said and buried her head in Sarafinas fur. "Mom!" She groaned. "Is it true that Simba and I are betrothed?"

Sarafina looked at her and nudged Nalas nose with her paw. "Yes! You are supposed to be Simbas wife and future queen." Nala smiled over this and the two lionesses shared a long and loving embrace as another day in the pride lands came to an end.

* * *

><p>Even though the news of the young prince and his best friend ending up as hyena food was kept low across the prides, there was one lioness that heard of the incident and gritted her teeth that it didn't work. The night had already settled over the African savannah as the lioness settled herself at the border to the shadowlands. In the distance, she could already make out the silhouette of the kings' brother coming closer and closer. The male lion was walking fast paced. Yet it didn't seem to be in anger. Zira finally caught a look at his face which showed determination and optimism.<p>

"I told you these stupid Hyenas couldn't get the job done." She said as he was only a yard away. She waited for a reaction of him but received none. "Scar, are you listening." She never liked being ignored, not in a situation like this. "HEY! I'm talking to you!" She once again called at the brown/red lion that had just passed her.

With a quick motion, Scar got right in her face and snapped his fangs closed just inches away from her muzzle. "Don't forget your place Zira!" He warned her in his gentle yet threatening voice and turned his body to the side.

Zira snapped back a little but held her gaze on the kings' brother. "So! The hyenas blew it. What now?" She then asked as she could be sure to have his full attention. "Guess we have to think of other recourses than those scavengers!" Again, Zira made clear what she thought about the arch enemy of the lions having a part in the takeover of the pride lands.

But Scar had other things in mind than the doubt of his most loyal 'friend'. "Oh this is were you are mistaken Zira." He said smiling evil. "Today may have been a defeat. Those three stooges were unable to eliminate the young prince and his cupid. But! I already made a deal with the hyena clan. And they will help me become king. There just are a few alterations more to be done. But I have all of them on my side."

Zira saw the blinking in the lion's eyes that she had seen so often over the last few days and what made her very comfortable about their plans going to work. "So… when does this new plan take action?" She continued to ask and walked up to Scar who now had his back turned to her. She rested her chin on his shoulder.

But the male quickly moved away and came once again eye to eye with her. "Patience, today's events may have shaken up the pride and our _precious_ king. Let's just lie down for a little while and let grass grow over this thing." Scar started to walk back into the direction of pride rock with Zira right behind him. "And once the little prince as able to walk again on his own…. We strike!"


	7. long live the King!

Hi!

Got a new chapter finished. Up to this point, this took the longest time to get finished yet. There was a lot of thinking to do into what I should put in and what would have had a better place in the later parts of the story. But I think the result is quiet satisfying to me.

Again thanks for the few comments I received.

Reldor: Ochre instead of ogre… you're absolutely right. DAMN YOU MICROSOFT WORD AUTO CORRECTION. … Although I have to wonder of what a love child between Simba and Fiona would look like? (Shivers inside)

x0xalexis8: speaking of…

Chapter 7: long live the king!

_Waiting is so boring!_

Simba thought as he lay on top of the small rock that was attached to a tree. He had his head rested on his paws and glanced around. _Weird place for a little surprise._ His mind continued still having the voice of his uncle running through his head. But Simba also thought it would be the best to not question anything of what his parents or the older members of the pride told him. The last week was horrible. His parents tortured him with not having his best friend Nala around. And so all he had left were Kula and Chumvi since Nala decided to stick around with Tama and Tojo. He really liked Kula and Chumvi. But he couldn't help but notice that they were kinda acting weird over the last weeks. And being the only one that stuck with them was not really fun.

And now he found himself lying down in this huge gorge while his uncle scar was out to find his dad was going to show him something. His thoughts wandered back to what Scar said earlier. "Little roar, puh!" He spat with an annoyed tone and glanced down to his right. And just in time, Simba spotted a small lizard making its way down the small tree and passing the young prince. _I'll show him!_ He thought and stood up. "Riao!" He yelled to scare the lizard away, but nothing happened. He roared again, but the small reptile kept moving along like nothing happened.

_Oh wait you little…_ "RIAO!" Simba put all his breath into it. His roar hailed through the gorge and the small animal made a huge leap and sailed a few inches over the ground. _Haha… so much for little roar huh!_ The prince thought and a smile appeared across his face. But just in that moment as he was at the top of his proud. He felt a very uncomfortable feeling coming from the ground. The noise of rumbling reached his ears and his head went to his right up to the far sight of the gorge. And then he spotted a small group of wildebeests running over the edge and coming down into the valley. But it didn't stop with just this few. The number of wildebeests got bigger and bigger.

Simbas eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. _Oh no… not again!_ Memories came back to what happened just a month ago when he accidentally made a herd of Rhinos run wild over the pride lands. But that wasn't that much of a big deal. This was serious. The golden furred prince stood dead in his tracks as the herd made its way down the slope. He had to run.

With all what was in him, Simba ran like he never had run before and tried to save his life. But in what world could a lion cub outrun a herd of wildebeests. Already his lungs were burning and his legs went weak. It didn't take long for the herd to catch up with him. Soon the young prince tried his best to avoid getting hammered by the big hoofs. _Uncle Scar, dad… help me!_ He yelled inside. If he would try to outrun them, it would mean the end of him. Simba needed some place where he could 'hide'. And right on cue, he found an old rotten tree which he headed at immediately. Quickly he climbed it and held onto it with his claws. The earth underneath him was still erupting under the massive weight under the massive weight of the herd that ran through the gorge.

The tree waived back and fourth and Simba could barely hang on to it. He had to invest all of his strength. Finally he spotted a familiar face in the distance and saw it flying right towards him. "ZAZU! HELP ME!" He cried out in despair.

"Your father is on the way. HOLD ON!"

The blue hornbill flew back with all the speed he could pick up. Simba looked after him while the tree was shaking heavily now. A wildebeest hit the tree and small pieces of the trunk flew through the air. One hit Simba directly on the right eye and for a moment, he lost his grasp on the wood. He screamed in panic and had once again pull out all of his power to not sail into the air. And then… it happened.

One of the animals hit the tree straight forward and the young prince flew in a high bow through the air. He screamed at the top of his lungs and saw the ground which was overlaid with grey coming closer and closer. A flash of gold appeared right in front of him as Mufasa was right there to catch his son out of the air. Mufasa swiftly moved his way through the herd and tried not to lose his son again. Everywhere; the king saw grey wildebeests running wild and spreading chaos through the gorge. Out of the sudden, Mufasa got hit from the right as one animal rammed the king across the side. Simba rolled over the ground and landed feet away from his father.

And there he lay; Simba was frightened to death as he looked around him and only found his death in every direction. Again, Mufasa was there and picked the scared cub up with his mouth. He had to get them both out of here. In the corner of his right eye, he saw a little opening and ran as fast as he could to the edge of the gorge. Carefully he dropped his son on a small ledge were the two looked into each others eyes.

WHAM!

Mufasa was picked by the horns of several animals and got carried away right in front of the eyes of his son. "DAD!" Simba cried out in horror. Hectically, his gaze wandered over the ground. He hoped to get at least some sign of the king, but all was filled with grey. But then the lion king darted out of the mass and rammed his claws to the stony wall. Simba couldn't help his father as he saw him climbing slowly back up to another cliff. But maybe Scar could. Quickly, he jumped up a small path. Calm down, I just have to get up there, find uncle scar and we can go home. For him, moving up the rocky path took almost an eternity. To his left he saw a little opening where he could look back into the gorge and check on his father.

He just about had entered the opening and his eyes once again widened as he observed the biggest shock of his life. There was his father, sailing down the gorge and landing in the middle of the still moving herd. "OOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed of the top of his lungs and darted right back into the direction where he came from.

* * *

><p>Back at pride rock, Nala impatiently swung her tail from left to right as she overlooked the pride lands from the ledge which emerged from the giant rock. Her punishment of not being allowed to play with Simba was finally over. Of course their parents were not that cruel to forbid them from talking to each other. Both of them had already agreed on meeting each other right in front of the cave which their pride called home. Simba had the idea for this meeting place since it would send some sort of a message to their parents. But the golden prince kept her waiting.<p>

It was agreed that Simba would pick her up some time after lunch. Nala had been waiting on this place for quiet a while now. And there was no sign of Simba. It wasn't that the cream female was mad or something. But she never had been friendly on the patient side. Something else she had in common with her best friend and… dare she say it… future husband. "Come on lazy bone! You know how much I hate waiting!" She mumbled as she yawned and got more and more bored. In the distance she spotted Tojo and Chumvi having another one of their wrestling matches which by this point, had become quiet popular in the pride.

It reminded her of her little conversation with Kula a few weeks ago. It was obvious right now that she and Chumvi would end up together at some point, kinda in a way that she and Simba would end up ruling this kingdom. This brought her back to her mom, since she arranged her betrothal. Sarafina was acting kind of strange over the last week. If Nala couldn't tell better, she would call her… moody! At first she thought, it was because of her and Simbas action earlier on. But as she spend quiet a while with Ni, he told her that this was totally normal for her state right now, although Nala didn't know what he meant with that.

Suddenly she felt paw steps behind her and turned around in anticipation of her royal friend finally arriving. But as she looked towards the cub that walked up to her, Nala noticed that it was Kula who right away dropped beside the cream furred cub.

"Hey Nala, Tama and I wanted to go to the western hills. Why don't you come with us?" The caramel cub asked right away as she lay down on her side and scratched her side with her left hind leg.

Nala put her head back on her paws. "No thanks Kula, I'm still waiting for Simba to come pick me up!" She replied but couldn't hide the fact that she was a little bit disappointed right now.

Kula noticed that and moved closer to her. "Come on Nala, would it be that hard for you to keep him waiting for an instance?" In no way Kula wanted to upset her friend and her own friendship with the young prince. "I mean, we had some really big fun the last week. You know… being just three us girls." She continued and now laid her paws on Nalas back. She looked into the distance and spotted Chumvi who was now on top of Tojo and laughed triumphant. She suddenly had an idea. "Or… maybe you're so eager because you LIKE him!" She remarked with a sly smile.

Her cream coloured friend tilted her head up and lifted one eyebrow. "What are you getting at Kula?" She replied but exactly knew what she was up to. _Talk about a Deja vù !_ Nala thought. "Well no… but I already promised him that we would meet here. It's not nice to break a promise just because someone else told you to." She said with a wink towards Kula.

"About that, I was wondering. What exactly happened the day you two have been on your own? What made your parents so mad that they forbid you to play with each other anyway?" She asked and dropped onto her side right beside Nala.

"Sorry! I promised to not tell anybody."

Kula had it and dropped her self onto her friend with an impact which pressed nearly all the air out of Nalas body. She immediately gasped out loud. It didn't take the cream cub long until she flipped Kula around and landed right on top of her as she immobilized her caramel friend in her typical way. "Pinned ya!" She shouted and held her head high in triumph.

"Hello ladies!" A voice appeared and shook both of them out of their thoughts. Kula looked to the side as she recognized the voice immediately. A few feet away from them stood Jiwe who tried to deepen his voice to make it sound more adult. The male cub stood there with his head twisted a little to the right showing only the left side of his face to the caramel coloured female cub.

Kula giggled a bit at the way the beige cub reacted when he was around them even though they hadn't seen each other for quiet a while. "Hey Jiwe, what's up!" She called out and waived her paw in a greeting matter. The male cub approached them slowly still keeping his chin low and his head twisted. Both Nala and Kula raised their eyebrows at how Jiwe padded over to them; they right away saw that he was hiding something.

"Hey uhm… Nala! Sorry if I have to be rude but… could I have a few words with Kula… alone?" He asked and revealed his complete face to both of them.

Again, the caramel female concentrated her gaze on Jiwes right eye and noticed the still remaining red taint it had taken on. A few days ago she didn't realize but now she was sure. These were the same eyes that observed her and Chumvi back the day Simba and Nala had been missing. Something inside her felt a little uncomfortable about the way, the young male lion watched her through the grass back then.

"Kula, what are you staring at?" Jiwe said a little offended and turned his head again to the side. He caught her right when she locked her eyes on his right one. This was exactly what he feared for the last weeks. _She thinks I'm a freak._ He thought and stepped back a little.

Kula, realizing that she made the beige cub uncomfortable as well, moved her head a little and glanced towards his neck where she again stared onto his neck. _Oh great_ _kings, what happened there? _She thought concerned about the scar that had built all around his throat. She kind of felt sorry for him. Unlike the other cub that wandered around the pride lands with scars across his face, Jiwe seemed like a caring and friendly guy.

Just like seconds before, Jiwe caught her checking out his wounds. It made him throw out a growl from his muzzle, one which was undetected by both female cubs in front of him. His eyes narrowed and he put up his head. "I think I should come back later." He said frustrated.

Kula and Nala felt that the cub in front of them was upset and they immediately started apologizing. "No wait Jiwe… I didn't mean to be rude. It's just that…."

"HEY JIWE! WHAT'S UP?" That voice belonged to Chumvi who made his way back to pride rock accompanied by Tojo. The came up a small side track and placed themselves right beside the two females.

Jiwe growled again lightly as he saw Chumvi sitting down right beside Kula and once again tried to hide his injuries from the other cubs. This was the second time; he tried to get in contact with the caramel furred female lion and got interrupted by the dark brown male. And now he even brought his _**ochre**_ coloured wrestling buddy Tojo along. If it wasn't already enough that Kula seemed to find his disfigured face rather disturbing. "Well... never mind, see you guys around." He grunted in defeat and walked away.

All the other cubs watched after the beige coloured one as he jumped down a few steps and padded over the green grass toward the water hole. "What's with him?" Chumvi asked and raised a paw into Jiwes direction.

Tojo shrug his shoulder and moved forward. "I don't know. But the way I see it, the waterhole seems like a good place to cool down right now. What do you say? Wanna' come with us?" He said turning to the female cubs.

"No thanks! I'm still waiting for Simba to return. Besides… I still need some more swimming lessons from him before I can go into the waterhole with you." Nala said right away. It was weird to her that she was the only cub in the pride lands that still had some reservation towards the water. Simba taught her how to move in the cooling liquid by now. But she still didn't have the courage to go in there without the golden coloured prince.

Tojo turned towards Kula "What about you?"

"Sorry, but I already agreed with Tama to go to the western hills. I hoped that I could persuade Nala to come with us myself. But… since she's so eager to wait, I guess I'll keep her company for now." The caramel answered and lay back down beside her friend.

Chumvi and Tojo shrugged their shoulders and padded away from the females. "Race ya?" Chumvi asked.

"Race ya!"

With that, the male cubs darted of as their female friends watched after them and into a bride future. At least in their eyes…

* * *

><p>The young prince didn't know how long he had been lying beside his father. He didn't even know how much time it took him to finally get to the numb body of the king of the pride lands. All he kept thinking about was the irresistible feeling of guilt which slowly crawled from his stomach up to his heart. Simba buried his head into Mufasas golden and still soft fur. His eyes were wet from all the tears that had wandered down his cheek and his mind was becoming numb from all the pain he felt inside. Right at this moment, all which mattered, was that he wanted to stay with his father.<p>

But the cub didn't notice the shadow that lurked behind him. The gorge was still filled with dust which made the figure blurry until it became bigger and bigger. Slowly a set of green eyes emerged from the darkness. Scar wanted his nephew to perish alongside king Mufasa. But in that case, Scar underestimated what a passionate, determined and strong lion his brother was. His mind was running circles about what to do about the golden furred cub that was still alive and sobbed beside the corpse of Mufasa. Should he kill him right on the spot? Just like Zira had suggested it for a long time? He had already disposed his brother. So what difference would make another murder in cold blood?

But he decided not to… in this moment, he held all the power over the young lion in his paw. He could do anything right now with him and no one would notice. He wanted to see how far he could go. At _least try to make it look like an accident? _He thought cruel and didn't even believe himself that this would be necessary. "Simba! What have you done?" He asked putting on a concerned but still reproachful look on his face.

Simba turned his head around. Beaten and defeated by his loss, he stared at scar with big eyes of horror. He quickly stepped away from his father and padded around hectically. "The Wildebeests… he, he tried to save me… it, it was an accident, I never meant for this to happen." He half sobbed and cried. With his eyes still wet, he could only feel Scar pulling him towards him as he tried to comfort him. He barely was able to hear what his uncle was telling him.

"… for these things to happen. But the king IS dead." Simba pulled his head away from the sudden change in Scars voice. "And if it weren't for you… he'd still be alive."

If there was anything left in Simbas heart that kept him going. It was ripped out of him. Scar words hit him deep inside as he realized. If _I wouldn't have tried to scare that lizard… the herd wouldn't have moved… and dad would still be here. _The tears were now coming in rivers as he rested his head against his uncles' leg and let the thought sink in deeper.

"Oh! What will your mother think?" Scar said. He had the cub right where he wanted him.

What would mo think? He barely had recovered from the incident with the hyenas where he almost got his best friend killed, and though his father comforted him really well that evening the guilt he felt for the events of that day was still strong and overpowering. How could he even look into his mothers eyes after what he did today? How could he look into everybody's eyes? His thoughts wandered off to Nala. How was there any chance that she would still be friends with him after she found put that he killed his own father. Right now, there was only one lion he could ask for help. "What am I gonna' do?" He asked and tilted his head up to his uncle.

Got you! "Run away Simba! Run… run away and never return!" Scar said blandly as he watched the cub wasting no time and heading away from his father and his brother. The red/brown lion waited there for a few moments and allowed himself for a nasty smile to appear at the edge of his muzzle. IN his back he could hear his three hyena allies laughing a little and fletching their teeth.

"KILL HIM!"

With that the hyenas darted off after the frightened Simba.

* * *

><p>After Nala and Kula waited for another hour in human time calculation, they both decided to go along with Tama in exploring the pride lands once again. Since Simba didn't show up in a decent time, Nala had no bad conscience in going out on her own without informing the golden furred cub. To her it was legit since. The three of them stayed out in the western hills for the whole day and came back when the sun had nearly completely vanished and left the pride lands be lighted only by the pale moonlight and the stars above. The female trio padded exhausted towards pride rock but had still laughing faces on.<p>

The huge rock formation was now so close, that it filled the entire horizon to the three cubs. Nala kept her ears up and her eyes on guard if she could hear any sign of SImba nearby. Oh how she wanted to give him a lecture for letting her hang today. "That golden king wannabe is going to be in so much trouble once I get my paws on him!" Nala said half joking and half gritting her teeth.

Tama beside her just shook her head on the behaviour of their future king. She couldn't believe how someone would make a promise to a person, and without telling the person just ignored it and do whatever he was pleased with. Sometimes, she could just pick up the young prince and strangle him.

Suddenly, the three heard the roar of Ni which was directed towards them as a sign to move quicker towards pride rock. Nala spotted the cream adult lion walking towards them with fast paced steps. Something about his behaviour made her nervous. His glance was stern and concerned as he halted right in front of the trio.

"We have been looking for you all over the place. Come with me at this instant." He said emotionless as he turned back to pride rock. There was no sign that he was mad or anything going into that direction. But Nala knew right away that there was something big going on, that and the fact that Ni never had his eyes landing on them for more than a split second. It seemed like his mind was at another place and he had other things to worry about.

Anxiously about what was going on, the way to the rocky castle could not take longer. But the group finally reached the small field that lay right beside the huge ledge which emerged from the rock formation. Nala noticed that all of their pride had assembled and stood closely together. She searched for her mother and found her standing right beside Sarabi and Zazu. The young female quickly rushed over to her but suddenly stopped halfway. Nala turned her head and spotted Ni standing behind. While Kula and Tama had already joined their parents, Nala padded back to the cream male lion.

"Aren't you coming?" She said confused and raised her eyebrow.

Ni just shook his head and gestured her to just go one. "I'm not allowed there, this is a thing between _pridelanders._ Just go ahead, I catch up with you two later." He slowly moved around with a wink as Kicho flew quietly over him.

Nala shrugged and padded over to where the rest of the lionesses and the cubs stood. There was something else that ticked her off and she slapped herself inside when she realized. There was still no sign of Simba, and neither was Mufasa around. She quickly moved beside the leg of her mother and nuzzled her on it. At this Sarafina noticed her and greeted her with a quick smile. But Nala knew right away that something was wrong. It was forced. The female cub then glanced around and her gaze landed on Sarabi and she noticed her face being full of tears as Zazu put his wings gently on her paw.

It was then when a thought came into her mind and slowly sunk down in her, it came to her piece by piece and she now had a hunch of what was going to happen next. And right at this moment, the kings' brother Scar appeared on a small boulder and glanced down on the pride in front of him. Sarafina moved her muzzle to Nalas ear gave it a quick lick and spoke up. "It's gonna' be okay my dear, be strong."

Then… Scar began. "My dear lionesses and pride mates. It is with great grief that I have to give you the news that our beloved king Mufasa and his son prince Simba have passed away this noon." The lionesses' heads dropped to the ground at an instant. Nala glanced to the side and noticed Chumvi and Kula burying their heads in each others furs to comfort them. Tama was washing away the tears in her eyes with her paw. To her left, she saw Tojo dropping to his mothers' feet with a blank expression as he stared blandly in front of him.

Scar continued. "I myself could do nothing to prevent this horrible accident and safe our leader. I couldn't even safe my own nephew from perishing." He bowed his head in sorrow. At the feet of the boulder, Nala couldn't even think anymore. All life seemed to run into a blur as the thought of her best friend not being there anymore settled even further into her heart. For a split second, she could have sworn to see a pale cream scarred male cub lurking in the shadows with a stony gaze towards the kings' brother.

"Mufasas death… is a terrible tragedy. But to lose Simba… who barely had begun to live…. For me it is a deep personal loss. So it is with heavy heart that I assume the throne." The red/brown lion spoke with his head hanging down and his face turned to the ground. "Yet out of the ashes of this tragedy…" His voice took a dramatic turn. "… we shall rise to great a dawning of a new era."

There was laughter that could be heard in the distance and which made the lionesses shook up their heads. All of their eyes widened as they spotted several hyenas coming down the small side track that lead to the back of pride rock. Nala took a quick glance up, a little helpless to see her mother having a shocked and desperate expression. At this point, the cream cub already didn't listen to what Scar was saying.

"In which lion and hyena come together… in a GREAT and GLORIOUS FUTURE!" The pride could only watch helpless as the kings' brother walked up the ledge. Every king of the pride lands had to walk this path and roar into the distance to manifest his position as king once he was announced. Nobody aside pride rock let his eyes of the new king as the air was filled with the mixture of Scars roar and the hyenas' laughter.

Sarafina pulled Nala closer to her as the grey furred animals wandered towards them and circled around the pride. Nala quickly glanced over to Sarabi who put a few steps forward and positioned herself in front of her lionesses. Her head was high and her gaze showed that there was still some fight left in her.

"Well… looks like you've got new neighbours." A female hyena laughed out as she went eye to eye with the former queen and put on a vicious smirk.

Nala immediately recognized the voice. A voice she never would forget for the rest of her life. It was the hyena that tried to kill her and Simba a week ago at the elephant graveyard, the hyena they called Shenzi. The cream female cub moved a few small steps back as Shenzi locked her eyes on her. "Hello beautiful!" Shenzi said knowing all to well what she called Nala the last time they went eye to eye.

"You make one more step and you…" Sarafina instantly snapped and put her head just inches away from the hyena and growled angrily. Nala moved back to her mothers' hind leg just as Scar intervened.

He eyed the Shenzi and darted her with green eyes. "This is going to stop right now." The new king growled and moved forwards. "You know we had a deal. So behave yourself and don't let anything slip your mouth." His voice turned into whisper as the slowly removed from the lion pride.

Tamas mother Subira and Himaya walked closer to Sarafina as she turned away from the scene only with her head keeping locked on the female hyena. "So much for a great and glorious future." She mumbled and picked up Nala with her mouth. The lioness walked over to the cave as she heard paw steps behind her. And as she turned around, she saw Scar walking up to her.

"I'm sorry for what happened over there Sarafina. I will assure you that none of that will happen again." He said with an apologizing glance on his face. The lioness dropped Nala and eyed him. "Have you seen how they looked at my daughter? I hope you know what you're doing… your majesty!" She said and continued on her way. Soon, she was accompanied by Ni who nuzzled her quickly and gave Nala a lick on the cheek.

Scar looked after them with a stern and emotionless expression.

* * *

><p>Defeated and filled with sorrow, Rafiki made his way to his tree. Scars words were still hammering through his head. The animals called him the wisest and most experienced animal they had ever come across. But even that didn't make him immune to pain. He loss of his long time old friend and his son, took the, for most of the time, calm and all knowing monkey by total shock. The way back from pride rock to his tree never felt this long. But he finally arrived as the red light of the dawn already showed upon the horizon. He never noticed that he wandered through the pride lands for the whole night.<p>

As soon as he had climbed up the tree he sat down right beside the small totem of Simba he had painted on the wood right the day he was born. Sobbing filled the air around the tree. Not even the star filled sky which lay the pride lands in its natural beauty could make Rafiki forget the pain that ran through him. He quickly looked at the totem and strove with his hand over the picture and leaving it completely blurred.

Beneath the tree, he could hear movement. It didn't take him long to figure out who was making noise. "What does a cub need to do to get some sleep around here?" It came from underneath him and the mandrill shook his head in a mixture of annoyance and anger.

_Not now!_ Rafiki thought and padded over to the edge of the tree and glanced down. "Not tonight Mwehu, I'm not puttin' up wit' dis' right now." He said from his high point. He had barely seen the pale cream cub over the last week. And just in this moment, he was only lightened by the by the pale moonlight. He could see that Mwehus body physics had changed over the time span. His face had become slim. The contours of his skull could be seen at this point. But the less thick his face looked, the more his muscles had started to built up. To Rafiki, this was a strangely interesting sight. Quickly, he climbed down and landed on the ground right in front of the scarred lion cub. "Hav' yu' heard de' news?" He asked right away.

"Yes! I was there." The lion cub answered apathetic.

"And?"

"Nothing! It doesn't concern me." Mwehu answered in his typical 'I don't give damn' manner.

At this point, Rafiki didn't expect anything else. But he was not going to let go of the cub tonight. "It doesn't concern yu' dis' is yur' pride we're talking about." It was rare that the mandrill lost his temper, well at least without purpose. But after all the times he had been through this conversation with the cub and today's loss made him snap.

"I told you before Rafiki, this is not my pride!" The scarred cub said out of anger as he stood his ground and faced the baboon. "I don't care about their problems and they don't care about me. So… there's nothing to discuss about this. And don't come to me with your 'I need them crap' because for the last time, I DON'T!"

Rafiki finally lost it. "YOU DON'T NEED THEM!" He yelled. "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! Today, the king of the pride lands died in a stampede, along with his son. King Mufasa caught you out there, at the borders of the pride lands. A few days old, left alone and with no chance of survival. He took you in without any remorse of second thoughts." He walked up to the lion and got eye to eye with him. "Without any help, you would have died out there. They brought you into their pride. They fed you, the supplied you with meat and shelter." Mwehu walked away as both of them saw the sun rising over the pride lands. "I personally brought you here and gave you this as a home. And this is how you thank all of us. By ignoring and denying everything that the pride of king Mufasa offered you. I think it's time that you return something of that."

It was the first time the lion cub had seen the old mandrill ever lose his temper. "WHY RAFIKI… WHY DO YOU CARE SO MUCH?" Mwehu yelled back towards the baboon in despair.

"Because… believe it or not, animals in the pride lands care for each other. Every time I see you, I see the potential lying inside you. You have the chance to become a great lion, a brave and true leader to a majestic and proud pride. But what do you do instead, a wander around the land half as a rogue, half as a pride member. There's no strict line in your actions." Rafiki finally reached out to the cub and placed a hand on his head. "You may not need _them_, but they need you. For once, please act like a normal member of a pride."

Both of them stared into each others eyes while the sun shimmered through the top of the tree.

* * *

><p>"You wanted to see me?" Ni said as he entered the freshly created kings' chamber. Instead of the big cave, where the pride usually slept, Scar chose his own den as the new home of the king of the pride lands. Mufasas brother had dismissed the lionesses and ordered the hyenas to bring the newest edition to his pride into his home.<p>

"Ah… yes my dear Ni. Make yourself comfortable." Scar answered and waived his paw around. The king had his head facing the wall that lay on the opposite site of the cave entrance.

The cream lion had never been inside this den before. So, since he was already here and the king wasn't paying that much attention to him anyway, he decided to observe the cave a bit. Even though some might say that one cave looks exactly like the other, this one had some special 'props' lying inside. In the far left corner, he spotted an abdomen of an impala which was positioned like a cave directly beside the wall scar was looking at. He glanced further to the left and saw a stone elevation on one side. To a human, this would have looked like a bed made of stone. It was indeed different from where the rest of the pride settled itself inside for their rest.

"I presume you like what you see!" Scar called out to him in his calm way as he finally faced Ni with his green eyes locked on him.

Already, Ni knew that the king didn't call him into here for a little small talk. The male lion tensed up and brought up a stern expression. "To be honest with you my king, I don't. But you didn't order me here so that I could observe your home." He responded with a rather challenging tone. One he at first didn't want to use in this situation.

Quickly, Scar noticed the way Ni replied but didn't think it necessary to go into it. "First of all Ni, I'm not your king!" The red/brown lion went on with a glimpse of a smile appearing on the right top side of his muzzle. "But more on that later! First I wanted to thank you!"

The cream furred lion couldn't resist but to scratch his head at what Scar was getting at. "Thank me? Why would you do that? I never did anything to you which would make you thank me."

"Oh on the contrary. If it wouldn't have been for you. Our beloved Sarafina would have died out there in the middle of the veldt with her unborn daughter inside." Scar smiled and stepped a bit closer to the other male lion.

_Are we really going down that path again? He never seemed to car about that day and incident before._ "Uhm… thank you but… like I told your brother Mufasa before. It was nothing. You don't have to thank me anymore." Ni questioned himself about Scar real intentions. If he was that thankful to him, why didn't he come to him earlier? "Besides! If it wouldn't have been for that incident, I may have never found a pride that would have accepted me like you did. It is me who has to be thankful for that my king." He said but was a little unsure about this whole scene.

Scar turned to the side. "Like I said before, I'm not your king!" Inside his head, Ni slowly began to realize where this was going. "You see dear Ni; I am the king of the pride lands. This means that I am the king of the pridelanders. Which, last time I checked, YOU are not!" Scar remarked with a sudden coldness in his voice.

Nis mouth hung open a little bit. He should have seen this coming. "Well… I don't know how much up to date you are but… your brother Mufasa named me a _full _member of the pride lands." He watched the new king clench a little as he mentioned Mufasas name.

"Don't ever mention his name again." He snapped angrily but realized that and quickly moved back to his reserved tone. "I mean… the pain is still to strong and my heart still has problems in taking our loss." He stroke with his right paw through his black mane. Ni realized how less he and his brother had in common. "Anyway, it is the kings right to name whoever is and is not a pridelander. And since you are not born in the pride lands, you are none."

Scar was now showing his true face, and Ni knew it. He was going to kick him out of pride rock. Away from Sarafina, Nala and… "You can't just banish me. You can't just call your brothers law as null and void. What about Sarafina and the others. You think it is a wise choice to have them lose another member of their pride just the same night the found out that their king and his heir have died. Don't you have a heart?" he asked upset and passionate.

"My brother is dead. As much as I hate to say it, his laws are null and void. And being the king means… I decide about who belongs to this kingdom." He turned his back to him and looked back towards the cave wall. The pale moonlight shined inside and showed his shadow on it. "And as for my heart, I'm counting on you to have one." He continued in a snotty tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ni yelled. He was close to snapping out as he moved forward with a small growl.

Scar turned around again. "There's an old tradition about males taking over a pride and having a special way of dealing with newborns." Nis eyes widened in shock. "Oh, you thought I didn't realize." Scar continued as he heard no response from the cream furred male. "You know, me and… _Sara_ spent a lot of time together in our youths, mostly together with Sarabi and… my _brother._" He spat the last word. "I know her inside out. Besides I've been on this world for long enough, I know a few things. Do you really want me to open this old tradition again? A tradition my brother called off when he assumed throne."

Ni led his head sink for a moment. The new king was serious. He would take everything away which he had gained over the last months. But he wasn't going down with a fight. "You won't get through with this!" He growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh I'm afraid I will. I have the numbers on my side." Of course he was referring to the herd of hyenas that were resting all around pride rock by now. "Oh and don't think to take them away with you. One tiny word from me and they will… hunt… you… down!"

The cream lion stood there in defeat as he thought about his choices. Should he stay and fight him right here, risk to be killed by an army of hyenas, and risking the lives of his newfound family. Or would he run away, make sure they are safe but him being back to where he was a few months ago. A rogue in the middle of the African savannah with only a black and white pied to accompany him. On the bottom line, Nis decision was not about him. It was about his pride. "IF I leave… will you leave them alone?" He asked.

"That's the idea!" Scar replied simply.

And just like that, Nis world broke together in front of him. "Fine… I'll leave." He mumbled under his breath and sunk his head even more.

Scar grinned and again turned away from the cream male lion. "Good… I expect you to be gone by tomorrow. I let you have a last night in the pride lands." Ni walked away just in the same time as Zira entered the den. Their eyes met for a split second and a nasty grin appeared on her muzzle. Ni just continued walking while the lioness approached her new king. Both lions looked at each other before the new king opened his muzzle. "One down!"

* * *

><p>Exhausted and defeated, Ni trotted back to the mouth of the cave. He was empty from what just had happened. Who would he brake this to the others. With a gasp, he entered in and spotted the two female lions that had become his family for the last months. Sarafina had Nala cuddled up in her grasp as she rolled herself up (like a dog would do). He could see that the cream coloured cub had cried herself into sleep by the dried water over her eyes. As soon as Ni was close enough to hear the lionesses' breath, she opened her eyes and stared at him. It didn't take Ni to say anything for Sarafina to understand what her mate had been talking about to Scar.<p>

Very careful and slowly, Sarafina led Nala slide out of her embrace. She picked her up with her mouth and carried her over to Subira. The lioness herself had her daughter Tama snuggled up to her. She dropped Nala gently beside her young friend and gave her a quick lick on the cheek. Then she turned towards the male lion who himself gave the cub a little nuzzle.

Both lions slandered to the mouth of the cave keeping constant contact to each other with their sides. The sadness could be read all over their faces as they probably spent the last night together.


	8. Changes

Alright : Next chapter! I think at the end of this, we will be at the halfway mark.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 8: changes<span>

The next day arrived in the 'dawn of a great and glorious future' and the still young lion cub Nala woke up from her sleep. The events of the last night were still a huge blur. With dreamy eyes, she glanced around the cave and found the spot in the middle of it which was reserved for the king and queen of the pride lands. But much to her disappointment, it was empty. Usually, the royal family would have stayed in that place until the rest of the pride had awakened. But not today.

It was true that king Mufasa and prince Simba had had passed away. Nala once again reached out to seek the comfort of her mother. But instead she found a small head which she was leaning against. The cub turned its head and looked straight into the orange tinted fur of her friend Tama, who had snuggled up to her mother Subira. For a split second, her mind went crazy on her and she panicked. _Did mom die too?_ But that was just a silly thought. She remembered that Sarafina had gone to rest together with her daughter last night. And Nala remembered Ni joining them later on while she pretended to be asleep. _Maybe she's outside having one of her recent moods again._ She yawned and moved to her feet.

Usually, her first action was to go get to Simba and wake him up from his sleep in the most annoying way. But that was not going to happen anymore. With leaned on ears, she padded over to where she spotted Kula and Chumvi had settled down side by side while they were surrounded by various lionesses. There was nothing to do with either one of them since they were fast asleep. _Might as well check on mom and Ni!_ And so, with quick but silent and careful steps, the cream cub moved out of the cave and now stared into the distance where the sun was dawning far away. To her surprise, the pride lands seemed rather noisy for this state of the day.

And it was in that moment that she realized the second horrible thing that happened last night. The hyenas had entered the pride lands. They had settled down all around pride rock as they too were still slumbering. If Nala would get caught out here alone, she would be dead on the spot with her pride only realizing the situation when it was already too late. For a split second, she thought about going back inside and wait for the missing adults to come back to the huge rock formation. But then she spotted two lions walking as careful as possible back into her direction. Still cautious but determined, Nala ran down the path leading into the direction of the elder lions. She couldn't just scream out to them through the jungle of grey bodies which lay spread all over the place.

By now she could make out who the two lions were even though in that moment they had there backs turned towards her. Nala was certain that it were indeed her mother and the former queen Sarabi. She sprinted the last few meters and quickly got in contact with her mothers right back leg and nuzzled it gently but intense.

"NALA! What in the great kings name are you doing out here this early?" She said half yelling and half being completely taken aback. This was something she could not poke up with in this moment. Not in her condition and after the events of last night.

"I… I got scared. You haven't been around this morning. And then there were all these hyenas and… I… I just wanted to find you!" She mumbled not really that sure if her mother was upset or not.

Sarafina gave her a nudge with her nose and got down on the same level as her daughter. "Promise me one thing Nala. Never ever run off like that without being guarded by somebody else with you when I'm not around. And that goes double at this early when nobody else is awake or with you. With all this hyenas around, you have to tell at least somebody where you are going." The lioness said with concern.

The cream cub sobbed a little. "Sorry for running out like that again."

Sarabi and her friend were surprised by the sudden apology and sobbing that had won the cub in front of them over. Sarafinas tone may have been a bit harsh towards her daughter and she pulled Nala closer with her paw and padded her back. "It's alright sweetie!"

Nalas eyes then wandered over both of the older lionesses as she realized something and opened her muzzle. "Where's Ni?"

* * *

><p>Simba had been wandering around for the whole night, escaping from the hyenas, his feelings of guilt and his past. Everywhere, the golden furred cub looked at; he saw nothing else but sand and dust in a barren wasteland. The accident with the stampede of wildebeests and the chase the hyenas gave him afterwards had driven him all way to the borders of the pride lands. After what Scar had told him and what was possibly waiting for him back at home, he decided it was the best to choice to leave his former kingdom forever.<p>

_What will your mother think?_ It wandered through his mind. Since he left Scar, he did not really think about what his friends and family would say about him causing his Mufasas death. But since the sadness of his father not being there for him anymore was making room these feelings. He started to think. It was all due to him trying to act kingly, brave and cocky once more. _I'm so disappointed in you Simba, what has your father ever done to be betrayed by you like this. Did you learn nothing from the thing with the elephant graveyard? You are no longer my son. _His heart was empty as he ran through the various versions of how Sarabi would react.

He was then pulled back to the first day; he got shown around the pride and the other cubs. He remembered when he approached Tojo and Chumvi for the first time. He remembered how the prince was rejected from them because he played the king card and being an arrogant cub.

Simba could hear the two male cubs giving him statements like_… you_ _had to play the king again. We told you once how you should keep it low if you wanted to stay out of trouble. How do you expect us to follow you as king since you caused Mufasa to die?_ His thoughts then came to Tama. _I knew one day you would do something stupid. But I never expected you to kill our king and leader. How could you?_

And then there was Nala! His best friend, or rather said, former best friend. How could there be any way for them to trust ever each other again. She was supposed to be his wife later on. They were supposed to be king and queen. But none of that was going to happen anymore. They would never see each other again. And in a strange way, he was glad that he didn't have to hear her version of the reproaches she was shooting at him. He didn't even want to think about it.

And so, Simba kept going through this endless land of sand and dust.

As long as it was night, the exiled prince made really good progress. But now that the sun was filling the land with her light, the heat was constantly slowing him down. Since he escaped the hyenas, he hadn't come across anybody. No animals crossed or tangled his path. Simba found himself in the middle of the desert. The wind blew the sand all through the air. The sand was getting into his fur and his eyes, making him barely able to see. His steps got shorter and shorter. And then… he tumbled and dropped to the ground exhausted.

If it hadn't been clear to him by now, it sure was after he fell. He was all alone and by himself.

But as miserable as he felt at this point, he was far from giving up and lay down for good. Simba pushed himself back onto his feet and continued. In what direction he was going, he had no idea. But at least, he wanted to get away as far as possible from his former home.

* * *

><p>The pride had finally awoken. It was then when the new king Scar had given his first order as leader of the pride. Since there were so much more muzzles to feed because of the arrival of the hyenas, he ordered the lionesses to go hunting right from the start of the day. The only ones which Scar kept staying back at pride rock were Sarabi and Sarafina. It wouldn't be a wise move to have the former queen put in her place from the beginning. The pride was still loyal to her and the redbrown lion wasn't able to gain their full trust. Even with the hyenas on his side, a rebellion could mean the end of his fresh gained leadership.

And then there was Sarafina, having her go on a hunt in her stage and just one night after he shattered her life once more. Sarabi would have gone full force hatred on him, which again could have ended in a rebellion. Plus, even he didn't want to admit, she still held a soft spot in his heart going back into their cub hood. Of course, Scar was never going to announce that in the open. And of course, Ni had told her of their conversation the other night. There was no chance of getting something out from the cream lioness.

Right now the king rested inside his den and had lain down on his stomach. For the first time in his life, Scar felt satisfied and at peace. That was until he sensed the appearance of a shadow blocking the light of the sun shining on him. The new king opened his eyes and glanced into the face of his partner in crime. Zira!

"What is it?" He asked emotionless.

The tarnish brown lioness smirked and settled herself right beside the red/brown lion on the ground. Right away, the king moved a few inches back in tiny annoyance as both their furs came in contact. "Since I didn't have the chance to congratulate you last night, I want to do it right now." She answered and closed her eyes while resting her head on his shoulder.

Scar did not wait for her to get comfortable and right away went to his feet. "Thanks!" he said cold. He understood the signals which Zira was sending towards him. But he never spend time to react or even give back some of it. Yet, the lioness was a worthy and reliable follower and partner. "If you came to my chamber just to seduce me, I don't have time for that now. Is there something else you want to say or do?"

Zira sat back up and looked into the direction of the mouth of the den with disappointment and slight anger. She better change the subject to not upset the male. "I notice that the pride acted very reserved towards you last night. The same happened This morning. I fear them to not accept you as their new king. We need to discipline them as quickly as possible."

A few feet away from her, the male lion rolled his eyes. "I have only assumed the throne for one night. And already you are paranoid with them overthrowing me!" Even though, he had the same thoughts just a few minutes ago, he knew than to not push the pride into a position where they were pushed against a wall. Not in this stage. "Once again my dear, handle these things with ease. Just going out there and have them pay for any wrong move is not going to tame them. We have to be patient and careful to break their bond."

Suddenly, both of them could her growling and rumbling in the distance and Scar walked up to the opening. In the distance he spotted a beige furred cub yelling towards a dark brown one with bared teeth and extended claws. His eyes settled on the behaviour of the cub and smirked viciously. "I think I just had an idea." With determination and enthusiasm, he padded out of the den into the opening.

"Where are you going?" Zira called after him.

"I'm having a little chat!" Scar said without looking back at her as he wandered with fast paced steps over the pride lands.

* * *

><p>At this point, Simba was worn down by the heat of the sun, the sand been blown into his face and eyes, and the fact that he couldn't count how many hours he had been out here without anything to drink or to eat. The only thing positive about his situation in that moment was that the sandy ground had been replaced with dried out and porous earth. At least he didn't have to worry about tumbling and falling down by every step he took. But other than that, there was nothing left in him.<p>

From out of nowhere, the former prince could feel the light and heat coming from the sun vanishing as he felt a shadow laying over him. Simba glanced up and saw a black vulture circling above him in the air. _That's encouraging!_ He thought. The cub was surprised for the small amount of sarcasm that escaped his mind for a second. But that vanquished when he spotted a second vulture landing just a few feet away from him. Of course, Simba knew that the black feathered bird were scavengers and would never go out and hunt a living animal, not to say a lion cub. Yet these birds had a sense of dying meat and that was what made the golden furred cub even more nervous.

"Goin' somewhere?"

The young lion heard a voice asking but did not have the strength to look in the direction where it came from. "Not really!" He answered weak and defeated.

"Now that's great. Cause it'd be better for ya' to just lay down let us do the work." One of the vultures said and smiled only to make his appearance even uglier. Simba ignored him but the black feathered bird continued. "Y'know! Things are not lookin' good for ya'!"

Simba growled weakly. "Go away!" He came back blandly.

The single vulture landed and stepped right beside him and put one wing on the lions shoulder. "Ya' might as well give up kid, we gonna' eat ya' anyway!" Within seconds, the bird was accompanied by three other vultures. "Great ya' could join us Marvin!" He greeted one of his friends who landed right beside him.

"Glad to be here Larry!" He answered.

In the middle of them, Simba stood dead in his tracks. Are these guys nuts? He asked as he glanced around. At this point, he was unable to tell if he should be frightened or not.

"Well… as we set up the 9th round. We have to take a look at our contender here Marv. What do you make of it?" The first one said, or rather asked the one called Marv while he shifted his head from glancing towards the lion and his buddy in exchange.

"To be honest with you Larry, he doesn't look that good to me. These past minutes sure had him in the ropes. I think at this moment, it's just a question of will and determination. But it's gonna take a lot of motivation from his corner to get back into the game." Marv replied with a light voice. Simba had never heard animals talk this way. And by god was it annoying.

Larry turned his back towards the golden furred cub. "Do ya' think, he still got a chance in this?"

"Well only if he changes his way of play. The way he's doing right now, he doesn't stand a chance."

At this moment, another vulture joined the scene and padded right away towards Simba and greeted him with a smile. The cub glanced at her with blurry eyes and noticed that this one seemed to be a female. "Are you ready?" She said and padded Simba on the back.

"For what?" Simba grunted through an immense pain coming from his head due to all the chattering and yelling from the ugly looking vultures.

"Ah… I see that Sue is ready for a ringside interview… Sue?"

"Right you are Larry! I'm here with your number one contender and I must tell you these past minutes have really chewed on his endurance. But anyway, how are you willing to proceed." That did it. With a quick swing from his right paw, Simba lunged at the female bird to knock the grin out of her beak. He was definitely not willing to have these creatures mock him like this. Not now.

"Leave me alone!" He snapped at them.

The female vulture called Sue spread her wings and leaped into the air as she avoided being hit by the claws of the young lion. Right away the others did the same and flew into their position circling the golden cub from above. Simba felt relieved to get rid of them for the moment. But how long would it last? The outburst had caused him to invest a lot from the left over energy. For a short moment, he lost his balance and fell to the ground. He landed on his side but had his eyes sided into the distance.

Suddenly, the cub spotted a dark spot emerging in the distance and getting bigger and bigger. The blur which was created by the uprising heat, made it hard for him to see who it was. Judging by the silhouette, he soon was sure that it was a lion which was padding towards him. Simba rubbed his eyes to see if he wasn't dreaming or hallucinating. But he was sure by now that it was a lion… no… a lioness.

As the figure came closer, its colour changed slowly from black to cream. Simba glanced up and his eyes and mouth opened wide as he realized who was staring at him. "Nala?" He gasped out of breath.

"Get up!" She said cold. Her voice was blurry, almost unreal.

"I can't… everything hurts." The former prince muttered while glancing towards the ground.

"Please… we need you… I need you!"

"Nobody needs me." He turned his head away once more. Even though, he didn't look at his best friend, he could feel the disappointment written in her face.

"Than I suppose… you really killed your father!"

In an instant, Simba gazed back up and stared into her direction. But nobody was there. It was a hallucination after all, except for the part about him killing his father. Worn out from the past hours, and the guilt that still filled him, Simba dropped even more to the ground. Exhausted, he closed his eyes and immediately lost his conscious.

* * *

><p>What made the king of the pride lands so special? For starters it was the position of being king of a rich and grassy country which showed a great variation of vegetations and landscapes. Then there was the rather unusual constellation of lions living in the pride lands. While the king and his pride lived close to pride rock, there a whole of three other prides of lions living inside the kingdom. All of them had their own leader who for his part was still taking orders from the king at pride rock. Yet it was rare that all prides lived a rather independent live and meetings with having all pridelanders participating being unusual.<p>

The news of king Mufasa dying filled the prides with great sorrow. Nearly all of them held their special mourns and blessings to the kings' family and pride. Yet the news of the hyenas now inhabiting the kingdom was a huge shock. They all had their own incidents with the grey animals invading their kingdom before. But they had been driven out by king Mufasa and the other pride leaders. But now, the hyenas had fair game of wandering around the pride lands and causing all sorts of trouble inside the borders.

But for now, life went its way and the pride living at the giant rock formation which was called the castle dealt with the new circumstances. It was a surprise to all of them that there had been no memorable incidents between the lions and hyenas during the first weeks of Scars reign. The situation was so relaxed that the lionesses could afford to have their cubs playing on their own again away from pride rock. It was a chance which Nala, Chumvi and the others took gladly.

The group decided to run down the waterhole to have a little relaxing time along and inside the cooling liquid, a measure that was needed. It hadn't rained in the pride lands for the last weeks, something which was unusual, especially in this time of the year. But right now, the cubs didn't think about that and instead enjoyed their time.

In that moment, Tojo and Chumvi were once again enjoying a little match they held at the edge of the waterhole. The dark brown cub had his male companion pressed his friend to the ground with his paws as the ochre cub was half inside the water. Both were watched by Kula, Nala and Tama who had settled down on a small boulder right aside. All of the cubs had grown immensely since they were born. It was kind of funny to see the females trying to find their usual spot on the boulder and notice how the space up there had gotten rather rare.

In that moment, Nala had directed her nose towards the sky. Normally she would have enjoyed a little breeze of wind which was streaming across the landscape. But even that was different by now; another thing that wasn't the same anymore.

"What's wrong?"

She heard Tama asking right beside her and turned her head towards the tarnish/orange cub. "Everything is different now. The grass, the air, ever since Simba died the pride lands are changing. Mom is acting even more strangely since she broke the news of our family getting bigger. There is so much going on, it… it kinda scares me." The cream cub closed her eyes and rested her head on her paws.

"I know!" Tama said and tried to comfort her. Of course she noticed her friend being rather depressed for the last weeks. She too felt a little hole inside her. But since the two young males were back to their playful selves, she decided to do her best to bring Nala back into to having fun. "But you know what Nala; let's just have some fun for today." She said and blinked with one of her eyes as she got up from the boulder. With quick but quiet paws, the female walked up to Chumvi and Tojo keeping her body low to not be seen by them. On the last second, Tama leaped up and slammed into both of them, sending them rolling to the side and falling into the water with their full bodies.

Tama and Kula both burst out in laughter and fell onto their backs. Nala on the other side smiled with closed eyes and shook her head in amusement. _The more things change, the more they stay the same._ The cream female thought and giggled.

"HEY YOU!" A voice interrupted the newfound joy. "Why do have to pollute the waterhole like that. We wanted to take a swim in it."

The lion cubs turned their heads to the side and glanced into the direction of a bunch of hyenas coming down around the boulder. They were not full grown, more adolescent, but they were still about a head taller than any of the lions. Kula immediately jumped down from her position and lined down with the others.

There were all around three hyenas, all of them were males and had cocky and arrogant gazes on their faces. They were gathered in a line and glanced down at the lions while they growled and mocked them. He tension in the air could be felt by anybody was walking by the scene. While neither of the cubs showed no fear, they of course were unsure of how to handle these three newcomers.

Nala stepped up in front of her lion friends and faced the new arrivals with angry eyes. "What do YOU mean _polluting_ the waterhole?" She said and went into a fighting stance. She had encountered hyenas being kind of 'rude' a few times over the last weeks. And she had enough of falling back or have the adults get into the battles. She felt that it was time to act.

On the other side of the front lines, the hyena in the middle who seemed to be the leader of the group also made a few steps to the front until he was only a few inches away from the cream lion cubs' nose. Both animals looked deep into their eyes while the rest stayed behind and observed the other party. "You heard me! We call this our waterhole now. You little kids can go play your stupid games somewhere else." He answered in a mocking voice while grinning confident at the cream furred cub.

"We lived here first. You can't just walk in here and claim this place to be yours. Besides… there is enough room for all of us." It came from Tojo from the back. The ochre cub walked up with bared teeth and stood now right beside Nala.

The adolescent hyena was joined by his companions and all three of them tried to stare down both of them. Now it was Chumvis time to go in front and to position himself in line. "Telling us that WE pollute the water. That's really funny coming from you." The dark brown cub responded with a mix of confidence and joke in his voice. Ever since Chumvi had his first encounter with one of the grey coloured animals, he despised them with everything. He and his mother were talking a walk around the southern fields as one female jumped out of the bush and attacked him viciously. His mother fought her off but was having problems with walking for days. Chumvi never forgot that.

"The way I see it you can both run off and go back to your mothers, or you stay and we tear you apart." Another of the hyenas threatened them. His voice was deep and booming yet he looked rather tiny in his statue. He stood on the right side of the 'leader' of the trio.

"That something I would like to see." Again the groups were interrupted by another newcomer. All of them looked up and found the scarred pale cream coloured cub Mwehu jumping right in the middle of the two parties. He had placed himself right in front of Nala and Chumvi and held an emotionless expression. "I would really love to see you touch one of them… and then get ripped into little pieces by the rest of the pride. That'd be hilarious!" He called and moved his neck to make cracking noises appear from it.

"Uhm… Hello! Can I help you with something?" The last hyena that hadn't taken the word yet spoke up with a cocky smile.

"Yeah! Thirst thing you can do is go DIE and save me the trouble!"

"Oh, oh is this really happening? Cause I really hope it is!"

Both, the hyena and the older lion cub walked one more step closer. "Oh trust me; you don't want _any_ of what I am right now!" Mwehu too was nearly a head shorter.

"Then come on! Bring all four feet of you! Should I count your stupid hair?" The hyena said looking at the little brown Mohawk that had started to appear on the cubs head.

"Pretty big talk, coming from a quadruped baboon!"

"Big talk, coming form a quadruped wussy!"

Mwehu and the hyena glanced at each other for about a second before the lion cub broke the silence. "Oh hoho-ho… I always knew that your species was kinda weird but, I never thought you were living dangerous." He answered with a vicious growl and changed his face from sarcastic and smirking to angry and bloodthirsty. The two animals brought out their claws and started to circle around each other.

The leader of the trio stepped in and lowered his head towards the lions. "I don't know where you got this guy, but you better tell him who's living dangerous here." He threatened. All of them never let their eyes of the newcomer while Nala and Tama stepped beside Mwehu.

"Ahem!" A coughing sound came from behind the grey animals and made them slowly turn around. All three of them let their muzzles drop down as they glanced into the face of a full grown lioness. Her fur was golden coloured with a pale underbelly. While she held a friendly smile on her muzzle, the adolescent hyenas knew right away that she was not here to greet them with politeness, "Is there a problem here?" She asked calm and relaxed.

Having an adult lioness around here, could mean a lot of trouble for the trio. Up to this point, they did not manage to memorize all the pride members. Which made them unsure of this lioness being part of Scars pride or not. Standing up to her and getting into a fight with a full grown lioness could get ugly and would have the rest of the pride being on alert and coming to her aid in seconds. And that would not end well for the hyenas. And then there were all these cubs that were ready to take a stand on them. "No! Not at all!" The leader said and with a quick growl towards Mwehu, they trotted away back into the direction of pride rock.

"Are you little ones okay?" The lioness asked with a concerned smile as she addressed Mwehu and the others.

Mwehu glanced after them disappointed. "Not really, I was looking forward to tearing them to shreds." The pale cream cub retorted cold as he growled and let his head hang frustrated.

"Oh my gosh! And I thought I was often getting into things way above my head." Two cubs appeared from behind the lioness and grinned towards the group. The first one was a male with a pale orange fur, a black hair tuft was crowning on his head as well as tufts of hair hanging on his ears. His expression was joyful and confident. The other one was female with a pale golden fur and blue eyes. Unlike the male, her face was filled with reserve and care as she stayed behind the male.

"MALKA!" Nala called out and darted forward jumping at the newest newcomer. Both fell into a friendly embrace as they rolled on the floor.

The lioness, which appeared to be Malkas mother, smiled happily at them and turned to the side. "I see you recognize each other; I think I'll go to pride rock to meet the rest. See you then you two!" She said and left the cubs alone beside the waterhole.

In the meantime, Nala had let go of her new friend and both of them got back onto their feet. They turned towards the rest of the group who had gathered in a half circle around them. "Well, let me introduce you to the rest of the gang. You've already met Tojo!" Nala said with her paw pointing at the ochre cub with blue eyes.

"What's up Jo-Jo!" The one called Malka greeted him with a wave of a paw which was answered by a quick "Malka!"

Then Nala continued. "Well, the dark brown chubby one over here…" She giggled a little as she said that. "… is Chumvi. Then we have Kula over here, the next one is Tama." One by one, she introduced each one of her friends to the newcomer. They all greeted back and Nala turned her head in the direction of Mwehu who was still in a fighting stance. "And over there we have…"

"None of your business!" The scarred cub snapped in his typical manner and gritted his teeth.

If they hadn't witnessed this behaviour for so many times, the cubs would be baffled at this point. Just a few seconds ago, the pale cream cub was about to stand up to a bunch of adolescent hyenas alongside with them. And in the next moment he changed back to being his usual prick type. Tojo and Chumvi were about to say something when Malka walked in front of them. "Nice to meet you 'none of your business'!" He answered dry.

For a split second, Mwehu was a bit taken aback at the comeback. But he quickly recovered. And with slow steps, he padded up to the new cub standing in front of him. "I've never seen you around here before! Might as well tell me who you are!" He replied still cold and but provocative.

Malka put on a cocky smile. "How about… no!"

"Uhm… Malka… you bet-." Nala and Tojo mumbled as they could already see both of them being all over each other with their claws. Both had seen the cub Malka being in action before. Their paths crossed a few days after she and Simba had become friends. Back then, Malka was about to get into the same kind of trouble as Mwehu did moments ago. She knew how he would react to threats and how he would call out the same.

But the pale orange furred cub put up a paw to silence them. "I mean I would… but I'm to busy staying out of 'your business."

Mwehu narrowed his eyes and a frown appeared on his muzzle. "Looks like we found ourselves a comedian." He mocked Malka with and shifted the weight on his paws from left to right and back.

The other cub of the arguing duo stayed calm and relaxed. "Well- In the pride where I come from, they call me 'the joker'."

"The joker? I would prefer to call you 'the joke', that'd be more appropriate!"

The other cubs were about to intervene seeing as both Malka and Mwehu had gone into striking distance. "Since we are now on the name giving game and I doubt you wanna tell me your real name, I think I'm gonna call you 'the cicatrizer'." The scene dropped dead immediately as Nala and the rest just waited for the volcano to erupt.

"You talk the talk. Can you walk the walk?" Mwehu answered with a complete shift in his tone. They were now only inches away from each other.

Malka put up a smirk on the right side of his muzzle. "Oh I talk, I walk… and I dance!"

"You should know better not to dance with me. Ask bird-boy over there."

"Jo-jo?" Yeah he is definitely NOT a dancer!" The pale orange cub replied as he winked into Tojos direction. The ochre cub frowned at the scene but kept his muzzle shut.

For quiet a full minute, neither Malka nor Mwehu took their eyes of each other, and then… Mwehu smirked and looked at the crowd of cubs as he raised his paw and pointed on the orange furred cub. "I like that guy, where did you hide him al this time? He's the first of you who can take the heat." He said and smashed his paw on Malkas left shoulder before he patted over and dropped right beside the waterhole.

The others were taken completely taken aback at how the scarred cub acted out of the sudden and how relaxed he was as he laid down right beside the rest of them.

It took a while before Tama and Nala decided to join him and the group settled themselves in a circle. Malka sat down right beside the cream furred female. All of them now glanced at the other female cub Malka brought with him. With all the hectic, they had totally forgotten of her. "Now finally. Guys this is my sister Sabini. My mother, she and I will now live beside pride rock from now on." Malka said as he put an arm around his sister.

"Hi!" She said shyly.

"What about your old pride? What happened to them?" Nala asked concerned seeing how the orange furred male had gone completely serious.

Sabini sobbed a little while Malka comforted her. "They, they left. Once they had heard of the hyenas wandering around the pride lands and the king being okay with it. They started to look for other lands they could settle down. Our mother decided to stay here… in OUR home." Just like a lot of the pridelanders, he held a grudge against the hyenas. "So… here we are. It's kinda weird how everything has changed since…" He didn't want to finish the sentence as each one of the other at once noticed what he was going to say.

Mwehu rolled his eyes without anyone notice before his gaze fell on Sabini. The pale golden female was glancing all over his body with wonder in her eyes. "What are you looking at?" He asked sharp and the female cub shrugged a little.

At once, Malka and Tojo were on alert and darted their eyes on the scarred cub. But Sabini found back her ease and continued. "Where did you get that?" She asked and pointed at the three marks that ran over Mwehus right cheek.

"Something that's…" He was about to yell another threat towards the much younger female. _Argh… forget it. For once, just shut your damn mouth and keep it down._ "Ach… it's just a present from someone I'm looking forward to meet in the future." He said while he rested his head on his front legs.

In that moment, a load roar emerged from pride rock and the cubs' head shook up immediately. It was once again the sign for them to return to the huge boulder. All of them got to their feet and marched off. Well except for Mwehu who padded back into the direction where Rafikis tree was standing. The way back to pride rock wasn't that long and the group of lion cubs soon stood at the merge of the kings' castle. Tojo and Malka got into a little race of who could get to the den first. Ironically, they all got beaten by Nala who stuck her head into the den first. But as she was about to enter.

"AAAAAAH!" That was her mother screaming at the top of her lungs. Immediately Nala shrug together in horror and darted right towards Sarafina. But she didn't get far as she was picked by the muzzle of Sarabi who carried her under protest out of the den.

"Come on my dear Nala! Subira, take the cubs away." The former queen ordered Tamas mother nudged the group to the side.

Sarabi dropped the cream female cub on the ground as she continued to protest "What's with her, what is going on?" She asked in panic. The beige lioness shoved her forward with her paw.

"You're mother is alright Nala, now is just not a good time to be with her. Come, sleep by me tonight." She continued to shove her forward as Nala took a last quick glance inside. The only thing she noticed was Rafiki standing inside and pressing his hand on her belly.

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><p><span>Authors note:<span> once again credits go out to teamfourstar and dragonball Z abridged for giving the original dialog between Mwehu and the hyenas.

The vulture scene came from the blu-ray audio commentary of the lion king where the directors talked about having the vultures appear as characters as sort of jiddish and kinda radio moderator type. I liked the idea and found it really funny. So I tried to make it like a boxing/WWE broadcast type of situation.

The scene between Malka and Mwehu was inspired by a scene from Full Metal Jacket between Matthew Modine (Joker) and Adam Baldwin (Animal mother). Tell me what you think about those two scenes


	9. Some scars heal, some don't

Hey there!

Jeez, this chapter took longer than I expected. It even went longer than I expected it to be. But anyway here it is.

**Jatha:** Thanks a lot for the compliments; I thought this was the last piece missing to the story. A bit of Comedy. I was looking forward to writing the dialog between Mwehu and Malka and I am glad that people enjoyed it (ort at least two).

**Reldor:** Don't want to spoil but… we're not done yet.

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><p><span>Chapter 9: some scars heal, some don't<span>

"Now will you look at that?" A beige furred lioness haled through the darkness of a cave while finding the right balance between enthusiasm and reserve to not wake up the rest of lions lying spread all over the ground. It didn't take long and she was joined by another lioness with a cream fur. She was about the same age as the beige one yet looked much younger than her friend. "Sarafina! Look at that!" She said and pointed with her paw down towards the scene on the ground.

Right to their feet laid a cream furred female cub, very similar to Sarafina, who had curled up for a comfortable sleeping position. Her legs and arms were wrapped around a smaller lion cub with the same fur colour. This one seemed to be a male; the little lion had his head buried inside the fur on the females' neck as they embraced each other in their sleep with smiles still on their faces. Sarafinas green eyes filled with tears of joy as she spotted her two children curled in peace right in front of her. "They look so peaceful Sarabi. It's a shame to have them grow up in such a cruel world." She said as her glance faced the mouth of the den and the world outside.

The rain still had not returned. And that did not make the pride lands look like the paradise it was used to be. Sarabi caught her friends' thoughts and put an arm around her.

"I wonder where he is." Sarafina said with sorrow.

It broke Sarabis heart as she heard the words and glanced back down at the two cubs. First Sarafina lost her mate due to a revenge hungry lioness called Hiyana which also meant for little Nala that she lost her father that day. Then Sarafina had to drag her broken and hurt body all the way back to the pride lands with Nala inside her stomach. It was out of luck that Ni found her in a small den and alarmed her and Mufasa to help them. The young male lion had become both, Srafinas new mate and Nalas step-father. And he did a great job. He would have made a great father for their son too. But thanks to Scar, all that was ruined. Sarafina licked both her cubs on the head and lay down and curled up around them.

"I let you get some sleep." The former queen said and nuzzled her friend before she trotted away.

Once again, the grown up cream lioness nuzzled her cubs as she enjoyed one of these few moments of happiness.

* * *

><p>A lot of things have changed since Scar had taken over as king of the pride lands. For most of the lionesses, it had been changes for the worst. But there was one of them that surely enjoyed the new leadership in the pride. Ever since Zira was a young cub, she felt being overlooked and forgotten. She was the only cub in her age. All the others were either younger or older. And then there were those lionesses that she held a special grudge to. There was Sarabi, the 'queen', the child with the golden bone who was determined to be on top of the rest of the lionesses. She had always been the privileged one.<p>

Then there was Sarafina, the pretty one. Always trying to be all friendly with everybody, being the one that every male wanted to be with, especially Scar. It was due to her that Zira got in contact with the red/brown male and his love for conspiracy. And then there was Subira that lioness that has been the suck up to Sarabi and Sarafina for her entire life. Zira would never change her behaviour just to interest someone to befriend her.

But right now she had the upper hand. Even though Zira was not or wasn't going to become Scars mate and future queen any time soon (though that was just a matter of time), she was the one supporting Scar for the last months. And that made her to even have some control over the hyenas. The tarnish lioness spotted the pride dragging three zebras upwards the path to pride rock. It didn't take long for the hyenas to rip the fresh killed meat out of the lionesses' mouths. Soon, the whole clan jumped on the meat and chewed on it like a bunch of dirty vultures. Zira just walked by Himaya and Chumvis mother with her head tilted high and her eyes narrowed.

"What do you think you're doing?" She heard Sarabi snap at her as Zira was about to sank her teeth into the zebra. "I didn't see you hunting with us. What makes you think that you can have the first bite from the prey?" The two lionesses eyed each other and threw darts into each other with their orbs.

Scars partner in crime smirked triumphant. "I'm having a feast. It's the right of the future queen."

Immediately, all eyes were locked on her, some of them even growled silently. Sarabi was soon backed up by Subira and Sarafina as the beige lioness raised her eyebrows. "Last time I remembered, you are NOT the queen." She said calm and controlled.

"And neither are you!" Sarabi didn't react to that statement at all; she just burned holes into Ziras fur with her eyes. Yet the tarnish lioness could see and feel that she hurt Mufasas mate more then Sarabi would admit. "But if you want to prove me wrong, we can ask Scar." She continued calm and turned her side towards the trio of opposing lionesses. "But then again, he has gone on a diplomatic mission. But THEN again, we could ask his replacement for the time." Her yellow orbs locked on Sarabis stern expression and the coldness reappeared in Ziras face. "This by the way… is ME!"

She had them. It was the law of the pride lands which was now executed by Scar. What he said was law, and that made Zira the leader of the pride. The former queen and her friends growled at her angrily. Zira then felt movement beside and glanced from left to right. There she found two adolescent lionesses with almost grey fur. _Spotty and Dotty!_ She recognised them right away. The two only members of the pride she could count on, the only ones which would never betray her and Scar. Both parties kept growling at each other as they heard a roar in the distance. All of the lionesses including the cubs, who had kept quiet for once, stood still in their tracks.

It didn't take long for Scar to appear at the scene and to take a look around his pride. He didn't have to be a genius to realize what was going on. "I sense there is some tension around here. Zira… come with me." He demanded and the tarnish lioness followed him at an instant, but not without giving Sarabi and Sarafina a nasty and triumphant smirk.

The king led his partner into his chamber where he ordered her right away to sit on the ground. He padded back and fourth to gather his words. "Who started?" He asked quick and almost annoyed.

"I was just there assuming my place as pride leader and being the first to eat. But when…"

"Next time, just participate with the hunt and you are allowed to eat first." He interrupted her without facing Zira.

Something was off with him. Over the last weeks, he constantly lectured her about not pushing things with the pride to far. But this time was different; it was almost like Scar was just avoiding trouble. "So… where have you been?" She asked quickly and tried to change the subject. "You have been wandering off quiet often over the last weeks."

Scar finally faced her. To her surprise, he looked really tired. "I just had a meeting with an old friend, considering our future." He lay down on the bed shaped stone and stared towards the top of the cave. "With the other prides leaving, opposition from the lions is fading more and more. The only one who could be a direct threat was Ni. And with him, I had the perfect pressure to make him leave in the right time."

That gave Zira the right chance for a question she wanted to ask quiet a while. "That little outsider living away from the pride, what was his name, is hanging out with the other cubs lately. We should do something about him too." She suggested and climbed up the 'bed' seeking once more the company of the king, Scar however didn't resist this time.

"The one with the huge scars, the scars I gave him a few months ago? As far as he goes, he will be gone sooner or later all by himself. He never even told anybody that he had encountered me. He is still a loner and wants to fight his battles alone. And that will be his demise." Scar faced the wall and closed his eyes to get some sleep while Zira rested her head on his body.

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><p>For a young cub, it was always a pleasure to wander through the grassy fields and enjoy the landscape. And the newest addition to king scars pride was no exception. The barely one month old cub jumped joyful over the now sandy savannah. To him, the pride lands were the most wonderful place in the world, one having to do with the fact that he had not seen anything else in his life. But there was a much bigger problem; he didn't know how they looked before. The rain still had not returned which caused the water stands in the rivers and waterholes to be very low for raining time. And that meant for the herds to move on to where they could find more water.<p>

There was still prey left in the kingdom, but the lionesses were forced to lengthen the distance they had to wander away from pride rock to hunt for food. With the herds moving on and the rain still missing, the circle of life was broken and the once rich and beautiful land was looking directly into the beginning of a drought. Dust lay over the yellow and brown grass. But that didn't matter for the young cub about now. Right now; life was good.

The young male lion jumped and hid behind a rock as he went into a pouncing position after he spotted a butterfly. The little insect was flying on about the height of his head_. Oh I'm so gonna' capture you. _He thought and proceeded. For moment; time stood still. All that mattered were just him and his so called prey. The cub leaped into the air with his claws extended to encase the butterfly in them. "RIAO!" He called as he closed his paws with the butterfly inside. But just as he wanted to cheer on his catch, he got knocked over from the side and felt himself suddenly lying flat on his back on the ground. Someone pushed a paw onto his chest and immobilized him completely.

"A bit far away from your pride aren't you?" A voice snapped down on him.

The little cub struggled to get lose of the stranger before he looked up. And what he saw made him completely scared as his eyes locked on his attacker. "No uhm… I… I just went on a walk with my sister and her friend." He stumbled over his own words. This wasn't what he had in mind when he cut loose of his two companions on this walk. He now realized that he was talking to a lion that was just a few months older. His fur was of a pale cream colour, it almost felt grey. The coat looked rather torn up and used. Several scars were spread over his face and neck.

"Well thank you! Now I have to search once again for food in this wasteland. With that loud voice of yours, you won't survive long enough out here." His voice was angry and turned into a growl as he continued his speech.

Looking at the quiet lunatic expression of the older cubs' eyes, the little one squeaked and panicked a little. "Please… please don't hurt me!" He pleaded.

Even thought Mwehu would have loved to teach this kid a lesson, he refused to. This was neither the place nor the time to rip this young cub out of his world. "Relax… I won't kill you!" he said cold and put some of the pressure off from him. But that didn't mean he couldn't scare the little cub. "But since you're such a brat, I'm going to give you something that'll make you remember me." Mwehu raised his paw to strike down on the younger lion.

"MWEHU! LET GO OF HIM NOW!"

The pale cream young lion looked up and spotted two females running over the field. Immediately he recognized them as Nala and Kula. The cream female had a mix of fury and panic on her face as she rushed over to them.

Mwehu smirked taunting and put his muzzle to the cubs' ears. "Saved by the bell!" He mumbled before the two cubs were in hearing distance and he released him.

At once, Nala pulled the cub over to her and screened him from the scarred lions view. "Meethu, why did you run off like that? Mom gave me the responsibility to look after you, If something's gonna' happen to you. She would probably eat me." She gasped as she nuzzled her little brother. Then quickly she turned back on the male cub in front of her. "What did you want from him? And don't try to talk yourself out of it. I saw you raising your paw to strike him." She asked, no, demanded with fury.

"If I wanted to hurt him, I would have already done it. However, tell the little kid to be more cautious around here. Next time I catch him scaring my prey way, not even the 'great kings' can help him." The pale cream male growled and sat down looking into the distance. "Now I have to find something else to eat."

Nala and Kula widened their eyes. "You were about to strike on a little cub just because he was keeping you away from your meal?" Kula mumbled taken aback. "And I thought you had changed over the last weeks." She added and put on a mocking face.

Mwheu on the other side just kept looking down the field for another animal to hunt. "You didn't seem to listen. I said _if I wanted _to hurt him, I would have already done that. I don't attack young cubs. Unlike other lions." The scarred mumbled and got to his feet as he spotted a young impala being all alone beside a small creek a few hundred yards away.

"What do you mean by that?" Nala asked half perplexed and half suspicious. Was he talking about them, she and her friends never did something like that.

"Never mind!" He was about to start running after his new found victim when Nala let out a loud cub growl which alarmed the impala. The animal shook up its head and glanced directly in the direction of the small group of lion cubs. With quick feet, it darted away. At this point, it was impossible for Mwehu to catch it. The male lion locked his eyes on the cream female in frustration. "Ruining others hunts seems to be a tradition in your family?"

Nala just smirked at him slyly. "Just a little payback for scaring my little brother."

Right beside her, Meethu found his speech again as he tilted his head up. "Don't call me little Nala. I'm not that little anymore." He said in a childish voice and shoved her with his paw. His gaze then fell on the still upset looking Mwehu. "Why don't you come with us? The hunting parties will be back soon." His question seemed more like an offer than a request.

Both Kula and Nala glanced into the lone young lion's direction with a quick nod of approval. "He's got a point there; you haven't been around to our common meals for weeks even though we tried to integrate you more into our pride. It might be better than for you to be out here all day and run after impalas until you can't move and end up with bare paws." Kula added.

Mwehu growled in frustration. He never cared for their hospitality before. He never spoke to anyone when he got around for meal in the pride. It was just a daily duty that needed to be done since he wasn't able to supply himself with food. Since he trained himself to hunt, he hoped the days of being dependent from the pride were over. But maybe just settle down for once wasn't such a bad idea. "I'm gonna' look into my appointment calendar." He said frustrated.

* * *

><p>About the same time, just like little Meethu, Jiwe trotted over the dead grass with his mind far off from this world. He was surprised to see so many hyenas hanging out in the lands and not a single one of them even reacted to his presence. His mother, all the other lionesses, even his fellow cubs in the pride lands told him that hyenas would leave no chance behind to get a grip one of them. But wherever he was going, he was basically given a free pass to go wherever he wanted to go without any hyena even giving him a growl. He couldn't say that he didn't enjoy that.<p>

And it also gave him some confidence… finally gave him some confidence. Maybe he could be able to tell Kula finally about his feelings. And maybe drew her away from Chumvi, that clumsy and bulky kid Chumvi. He had no idea what she saw in him. He was a loud mouth, always trying to prove how he was stronger than Tojo. And the masses he ate were just unbearable. How could someone as gentle as Kula hang out with such a cub like Chumvi was a mystery to him.

When it came to him, he would be the exact opposite of that fatty Chumvi. He would never talk about how much stronger he was than the rest, (how could he with the scar to prove that he wasn't strong). He would never eat away her food (and he had the skinny figure to prove it). But all that was none and void. Kula was probably going to end up with that brown furred cub anyway, and soon will have forgotten about him.

At this moment, the once friendly and playful cub felt nothing but bitterness inside him. If his mom could see him about now, her heart would break this instant. Once more, the beige cub glanced down on his reflection. He was so ugly. Even though his mother told him to not worry about it, he felt pain when he saw the image that he gave. But what would his mother know about his feeling. She was never around even more. King Scar's law said that the lionesses were responsible for the hunts and the preys, which meant that they had to hunt to feed the hyenas as well. The lionesses would leave early in the mourning, only come by to drop of a fresh caught animal before going out again.

So for the most part of the day, he was on his own. His despise for Chumvi was so big that he even refused to go out and play with the other cubs when the dark brown male was around. And that left him out on the side field even more, which increased his sorrow. And then, he spotted them, spotted HER. Nala and Kula ran straight through the grass. The cream female was yelling something which Jiwe didn't understand. But he felt it was the best idea to follow them since Chumvi was nowhere to be found.

He ran after them as the two female cubs ran around a small hill and vanishing for the males view. Jiwe himself rushed around and got back in contact with Nala and Kula. Once again, what he saw made the veins in his body got tensed and boiled up. Kula and Nala were talking to the only lion, the beige cub hated more then Chumvi… Mwehu. Right now, Nala had her little brother Meethu held close to her while shooting angry glances towards the pale cream male. _Doesn't surprise me the least!_ He thought and closed down on them.

"I'm gonna' look into my appointment calendar." Mwehu said frustrated.

"Hey Nala, hey Meethu… uhm… Hi Kula." The beige cub greeted but said the last words a little bit nervous. Then his gaze fell on Mwehu. "What do you think you're doing? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?" Jiwe snapped with anger right away at the scarred cub while positioning himself in front of Kula in a protective way.

"Perfect! You're just the right thing to make this day even more glorious. What's wrong laddy, wanna' go for a second round?" Mwehu challenged right away and didn't waste any time with word foreplay.

The two males growled once again at each other with fury on their eyes. But it was just then when Nala interfered and padded in between. "Great kings boys. Do we have to poke up with this every time we see you two in the same place." She said as she turned her head and changed glances back and forth on Mwehu and Jiwe. "Look Jiwe, this must be hard to accept but… this time Mwehu didn't really do that much. He already let us know that he didn't mean to do anything nasty this time." The cream female continued.

She was right, it was hard to accept. Immediately, the beige cub was staring into Mwehus eyes full of mistrust. "You better get out of here and leave them alone." He pointed towards the two females and the younger male cub at their feet.

A bit frustrated by the still rejecting attitude of the young male pridelander, Nala went forward and now was only inches away from Jiwe. "RELAX Jiwe! I told you it's alright. As a matter of fact, he will come back with us to pride rock."

Now this was a totally surprise and disappointment for the beige cub. He and Mwehu had not been at the same place since Scar took over. And now he had to except him again in the middle of his home. He was not going to let that happen. "What do you mean 'he's coming back with us to pride rock? What gives him the right to spend his time with us and our pride?" The fact that the scarred cub had been around their pride fro months under Mufasas reign bothered him before, but he would never questioned the former kings' judgement on that.

"For starters, he didn't back up from the hyenas we faced weeks ago. You know! The ones that tried to drive us away from the waterhole? Unlike you, he didn't hide inside the bushes that time." Kula suddenly snapped at the beige cub. She shot him a look as if to say. _Oh yeah! Even if nobody noticed it, I saw you!_

Earlier, he was taken aback, but now he was shocked at the caramel females' outburst. Now even Kula was against him. "I can't believe it, you prefer HIS company more than mine, the one of a real pridelander." Jiwe shot back with disappointment.

That did it for Kula. "Listen to yourself; you're so bitter about HIM. Why can't you just relax?" She answered to him.

"Relax? Relax! RELAX! After he did THIS TO ME?" He shouted directly into the females' direction before he darted off into the distance.

All four other cubs looked after him while the beige cub. Meethu looked up to his sister with questioning eyes. Nala herself watched after him with sorrow. Somehow, she could feel her pride falling apart piece by piece. Kula breathed heavily after her outburst and the harsh reaction from Jiwe. And then there was Mwehu who barely showed any emotion and kept his stern expression as he glanced after the other male cub.

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><p>By the time the cubs made their way to the castle of the pride lands, Scar had been on the summit of the giant rock while he observed the going in HIS kingdom. The view from up here was breath taking and out from this world. From this point, he could every part of the pride lands, a kingdom that had been ruled by his family and ancestors for generations. He also remembered the first time, his father Ahadi took him and Mufasa up here. Their were barely a month old. And he remembered how his father was only talking to his brother and how he kept himself in the back.<p>

His father always talked to his brother of how Mufasa was going to be the next king as first born. Something that Scar had to hear for so many times that he couldn't even count anymore. But now, and he couldn't get tired of saying it over and over again. He was the king now. He achieved everything he wanted. There was nothing more for him to do.

In the far distance, Scar could see the hunting parties running back and forth through the veldts after zebras, antelopes and wildebeests. Even though. The lionesses still complained about the current situation, the somehow poked up with having to hunt for the hyenas as well. Yet somehow, the grey animals that helped him gain the throne of the pride lands were already complaining again. While the prey and meals had been rich for the first time, it was a different situation now. The hunts took longer and the kills were getting smaller and smaller. Not to mention the low water stands in the rivers.

_Those poachers can complain as much as they want, I'm the king… it will be done as I say. _He thought to himself before a nasty smirk appeared on his face. The king sat there for more than an hour just watching the sun set over the pride lands until he spotted the hunting parties coming back from the daily business and getting back to pride rock. Scar quickly moved back to the path that led down to the main den where the pride rested.

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><p>On that evening, the lionesses had to fight even more for their rightful part of the prey. The hyenas wanted to take nearly everything which Sarabi and the others had brought back to pride rock. But even the parts the older lions could defend from the hyenas was barely enough for a satisfying meal. Since Sarafina and Nafsi (Malka and Sabinis mother) had to feed two cubs, they barely got enough to quiet down their own hunger. But the two mothers gladly shared their pieces to help their children. Even Sarabi decided not eat together with her friends for the cubs' sake.<p>

Soon after the gathering each member of the pride went their separate ways. And so did Nala on that evening. She had settled herself down on a small boulder just a few yards away from the path that led back up to the ledge of pride rock. With dreamy eyes she stared up into the sky and looked at the stars. With all the things happen around pride rock over the last months. Even with her mother giving birth to Meethu, she always came out here to remember.

_I wonder if they are living happy together up there_. She thought as her mind drifted off back towards Simba. She never showed but… she missed him like nothing else in the world. Movement behind her made the cream female cub shook up and twist her head to the back. Her eyes fell on Meethu who padded over to her with Tojo and Tama behind.

Quickly the barely a month old cub joined her on top of the boulder as he rubbed his fur on hers. "Hey little guy! Why aren't you sleeping?" She asked and pushed her brother slightly trying to shove him off the rock.

"Sleeping is for little kids!" Meethu answered and rubbed his eyes. "Besides… what goes around comes around!"

Tojo and Tama giggled as they heard the young male cub saying those words but acting really tired at the same time. "I can totally see that since you're all grown up by now!" Tama laughed and sat down to her friends left on the ground. "So this is what you have been up to every night!" The tarnish/orange cub asked or rather indicated as her eyes too went up towards the stars.

"You're wondering if all that talk about the great kings is right and if he's looking down on us?" Tojo added while went into a sitting position right in front of the other trio.

"Every night!" Nala admitted and dropped her ears.

Right at the side of her, her brother looked around in confusion and unsettled by the sudden shift in mood inside the group. He nudged Nala in the side with his paw as he asked. "What are you talking about Nala? Who is watching down on us?" he asked in his childish voice.

The cream furred cub put an arm around the young male as she once again looked up. "Mom and I never told you about how we ended up today. You know… there once was this boy. He was born around the same time as Tojo and I. You heard the name Simba before didn't you?" She asked smiling down on her brother.

"He was the son of the former king right?"

"Yes!" She answered. "You remind me a lot of him." Nala stopped for a second, she almost sounded like an adult right there. "He was the kinda guy that you could do everything with. He was never afraid of having _too much _fun. He was funny, energetic and sometimes cocky, but still had the responsibility of being a great king in the future." Her mind wandered back to where she and Simba nearly got crushed by a lose herd of rhinos, and then to the time when he nearly drowned her in a river before jumping in and rescuing her. Yes, that was definitely him. "You would have really liked him!" She was about to tell them about the fact that Simba was supposed to be her husband once the two of them got old enough to marry. But that was something that belonged only to her, her mother and Sarabi. Maybe she was going to tell them some time later, but not in this situation.

Another movement sounded and Malka rushed down the path leading down to the group. "GUYS!" He yelled in panic before he stumbled and rolled the last meters down the path before he landed nose first in front of the group gasping out of breath and in slight pain. Tojo and Tama ran over to him and got him back to his feet. "Malka what is going on?" Tama asked right away as the pale golden cub gained some breath.

"You…you got to come with me! Jiwe went totally crazy!"

_[Earlier!]_

After the events of the day, Jiwe waited for the pride and the others to settle down before he wanted to make his move. He had no idea how he would make this work. But he knew he had to if he didn't want to lose her sympathy. He knew that Kula wandered off late for a last drink at a waterhole before she went to sleep. He watched her numerous times without her noticing it. As soon as the caramel female left the cave and stepped out into the opening. The sky had put on a violet colour signalling the sunset to come and the night to settle over the lands. As Jiwe watched her drop down stone by stone to leave pride rock behind, he hid behind a rock to not be seen right away.

Slowly, he got out from his hiding place and slowly trotted after her. She was right down aside the water as she sunk her tongue into the cooling liquid. The beige cub made the last step and got into view of the female. "Hi Kula!" He once again said shy and unsure. The female cub pulled up her head and glanced over to him in a neutral way.

"Hey Jiwe, have you finally cooled off!" She answered and gave him a quick smile.

For a short moment, the male cub a bit offended by the remark. How did he have to cool down? And how did she have the nerve to tell him to. "Yeah, I kinda have. Not that I needed to anyway." He then answered and rubbed the back of his head. Yet he noticed Kula raising and eyebrow.

"So… what brings you here?" The caramel continued to ask as she sat down beside the waterhole. Even if she didn't want to stay out any longer than necessary, she thought that Jiwe could need some company after the last couple of weeks of isolation. Seeing as this could take a while, giving the looks of desire in the male, she lay down on her stomach and lifted her head up to him.

Jiwe moved closer to her and sat down just a few tail lengths away from the female. "Uhm I just wanted to talk to you." He replied with his head hanging relatively low. "You know Kula, for the first weeks of our lives, we lived pretty close together. You know, with our mothers giving birth to us in the same den at the same time." The beige cub continued. "Remember, we had a lot of fun together." Kula listened carefully, he had a hunch were this was going but didn't want to interrupt him. "And then… all of that changed when we both got around and met the other cubs that day."

"Yes… I met Tama and Nala that day, and that was when…" Her eyes wandered down on Jiwes neck and his eye where she spotted the injuries he sustained from Mwehu. Seeing how the beige cub shrugged together and frowning. Kula took her eyes of and stared into the distance.

With another step forward, Jiwe sat down once again right besides her having his right front leg coming in contact with her side. Her fur felt really soft and sweet. It almost send him into some kind of trance. But now as not the time, this was getting serious. "It was the first time in many where you picked other cubs to play around instead of me." His gaze went stern as he looked down on her with half opened eyes.

For a short moment, the caramel coloured cub tilted her head back a little as she heard that. _Is he somehow accusing me of something?_ "I would have liked to keep playing with you. But you kept yourself kinda aside for weeks. I only noticed what happened to you until weeks later." She said in defence and went back into a sitting position.

"Probably being busy with Chumvi?" Jiwe snarled a bit but immediately regret what he said. He spotted the female frowning a bit as he spoke out the dark brown cubs' name.

"Do I sense some jealousy around here? Come on Jiwe, he is really a great sport to have around. If you would have been around him more often you would know that." She answered keeping the atmosphere on a relaxed level.

_Now she is accusing me? ME! What did I do wrong? It's not like I'm ignoring other people around here. _He thought with his eyes widening. "Since you kept blocking me out from the group, and the others keeping us two apart, there wasn't that much to be done to get me to know them." _This was not how this was supposed to turn out. _

"I think I'll better be going to sleep now. We can talk tomorrow." She said and started walking past the beige cub.

Immediately, Jiwe jumped in front of her and blocked her path. "Wait!" Kulas head flew back with her ears leaned on as she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Listen, I… I didn't mean to upset you." He said and extracted his paw to prevent her from moving on. "I… I… I haven't really thought about telling you this for a long time now but… I think I love you." He said completely shocking the female cub in front of him.

She didn't know what to say. "Jiwe I…"

"Hear me out. I know that you think that we're still to young to know what love is. But… I really care about you, and I would do anything to make you love me." He said with passion in his eyes, his cheeks were burning as he nearly pleaded to her.

Kula on the other paw closed her eyes and looked to the ground. For a moment she thought about just running back to the den. But that would be a really dumb idea; she couldn't just leave him standing here after his big revelation. "I… I'm… I'm sorry! I don't want to upset you. But as much as I like you, I don't think that I can't return these feelings." She answered slowly and with a heavy heart.

"I know that you think Chumvi is a great guy to have around. But if you would just hear me out I could explain it." He pressed his paw on her shoulder.

The female cub crunched a little as the male pulled out his claws accidentally. Right away, he pulled back and put on an apologizing look. Yet Kula kept her calm and answered. "This has nothing to do with Chumvi, its just… we're only half a year old. And I think of you more of a friend then something else or more."

Suddenly, Jiwes expression changed. She said the one word that Jiwe had heard quiet often in stories and tales. It was the word friend. How could she do that to him? And just in that moment, something inside his mind snapped. "Oh no! You can't do that to me." He was completely stunned. "What does Chumvi have what I don't?"

The sudden change in the beige cubs figure made Kulas ears perk up in alert. Yet she wasn't going to have him making her look like the villain in this situation. "I told you this has nothing to do with Chumvi!"

"Then why don't want to be with me?" He snapped at her, his teeth only inches away from her face. She jerked back in shock and her eyes locked once more on his scars.

In that moment, Jiwe realized it and looked her deeply into her eyes. "Oh I see… it's about this. Isn't it!" He growled and pointed his paw on his injured eye. "You can't stand having a mate that looks as ugly as me." The male cub walked slowly forward and the caramel female tumbled backwards as until back feet were inside the water.

"Jiwe listen to me."

"This is all part of your plan of getting me out of the way. First, you let that rogue, that runt Mwehu go into our pride and injure me like that just when you are out playing with your newfound friends." He gritted his teeth with fury in his eyes. "And then you slowly get closer to that big fat arrogant lion Chumvi to make me mad and feel lonely. Just in time to bring back Mwehu and have me lose my temper and being banished from here. Really clever."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You're mad!"

That was definitely the wrong words she could say right now. "Oh I show you madness"

At once, Jiwe jumped at her and had her pinned to the ground immediately. Even though Kula learned a lot about fighting and wrestling from Nala and Chumvi. But in this situation and the intense emotions going on, she couldn't think straight to block the attack from her so called 'friend'. She could nearly tell that the beige cubs' eyes were nearly red from the pain and disappointment he felt.

With his superior strength, he put one of his paws on the female cubs head and pressed it under water. Kula had nothing to set against that, with desperation, she tried to shove the attacker off from her. Her vision got blurry from the little bit of air that was left in her body. But she could still make out the cold and revenge thirsty eyes of Jiwe, the cub that once was her best friend.

On top of her, Jiwe held no emotion inside him than rage and disappointment. All the love he felt, all the hope he had in his life, all the kindness he showed and received in his early days were gone. Now there was only one thing left… HATE! He could feel the female under him getting weaker and slowly giving up her struggle. Soon it was over. But…

SMACK!

Something collided hard on the side of his head and Jiwe was thrown off his feet. He had to release Kula from his grip and landed hard on his side. AS quickly as possible, the beige cub came back to his feet and looked up to who had knocked him over. And there he stood the cub that had been a thorn in his paw for the last couple of weeks. "Chumvi!" He snarled at the dark brown male cub.

"I almost felt pity for you as you got injured by Mwehu months ago." He said cold and jumped right between him and the female cub and still had her head under water. Right in that moment, Malka and Mwehu walked up to the trio. Malka immediately rushed over to the caramel furred female as he pulled her put of the waterhole.

Jiwes eyes wandered back and fourth from Chumvi over to the pale cream male cub. They rested for a moment on Mwehu who was currently taking a more neutral stance on the scene. "Is she okay?" He heard the dark brown cub asking concerned as he glanced over to Malka and the heavy and quick breathing Kula. The female kept her eyes still closed. And Jiwe was unsure if she was crying or still being wet from the water. But was not interested in her right now anymore.

He locked his eyes back on the scarred cub and growled viciously. "You asked me for a second round! Here I am."

_[Present!]_

Malka led Nala and Tojo down the path from pride rock directly towards the rumble that was happening beside the waterhole. Nalas immediately spotted Chumvi standing over the lying down Kula as he growled angrily at two lions fighting in the middle of the field. Right away, she rushed over to the duo that stood aside in panic. "Are you okay Kula?" She asked her but only received sobs from her friend.

A few yards away, Mwehu had in a tight grasp slowly pressing the air out of the beige cub. "You don't know how happy you made me by challenging me tonight!" He said smirking evil.

And just before anybody could do anything that they would regret later on. The cubs were interrupted by loud roars. At once, they were crowded by several adult lionesses that were led by Tama and separated the two cubs from each other while Kulas mother ran over to her daughter. While Sarabi pulled Mwehu away from the rest, which already took a lot of strength, Jiwes mother her son tightly gripped with her muzzle. "I GET YOU; SOONER OR LATER!" HE yelled as he still tried to get a piece of the pale cream cub.

"Looking forward to it." Mwehu reacted with a smile.

"What is going on here?" Another voice came from the dark. All lionesses and cubs turned their heads towards king Scar as he was accompanied by a bunch of hyenas.

"He was going to kill me!" Jiwe responded right away and pinted with his paw towards Chumvi and Mwehu.

"GOING TO KILL YOU? YOU TRIED TO DROWN ME!" It came from Kula as she was held up by her mother and been prevented her from falling straight down to the ground.

Scar glanced down on the beige cub before he made contact with the eyes of Jiwes mother. "Come with me! Alone!" The red/brown lion said as he led the now scared cub away from the rest of the pride. In the background, Kula was picked up in her mother muzzle as she carried her through the line of cubs that glanced at her with compassion. Kulas mother stopped for a short second as she passed Cumvi and Malka. But only to let her say a few quick words. "Thanks for saving my life!" She said weak as she got carried away further.

Jiwe didn't know how long he had been following Scar over a veldt as the stars hang high over the African savannah. The king kept quiet and said nothing for the whole time until they reached a small acacia that lay just a few yards away from a river. Pride rock could still be seen from the distance as clear as from every point of the pride lands. At this point, Jiwe had gained back his calmness and just waited for the king to say something.

"Now, start talking!" He suddenly said and made the little cub shook together.

"Talk about w-what your… your h-highness?" He answered stuttering.

"What exactly happened over there, and don't start lying to me. I want to hear 100% truth." Scar replied yet kept a slight smirk on his face.

And so, the beige cub Jiwe told him the whole truth, everything about how he had encountered Nala and Kula earlier on. How he tried to make up to Kula for what happened earlier. How he snapped back at the waterhole. How he tried to drown Kula, and mostly how the situation got broken up by the other cubs."

The king listened carefully and padded back and fourth until Jiwe was finished. "I like your passion and determination. It just needs some more training and work on your style." Jiwe was taken aback by the words of his king; he did not expect this to happen. Being praised for what he did moment s ago. "If you still want to have revenge on them, I can show you how; do you want me to help you?" The cub in front of him was troubled and unsure; some could say that he was mentally unstable. It was the perfect opportunity. "What do you have to say?"

Jiwe looked back and fourth between pride rock, his king and the sky. His mind wandered back to the cubs back at home, to how much he had changed since his birth. And then a smile appeared on his face.

"I'm all ears!"

* * *

><p>And there you go.<p>

Since I went on a comedic and funny tone for the last chapter, this time we got back to a more serious tone. If not to say… the scariest and depressing moment aside Mufasas death. I hope that I could make you feel how Jiwes character got poisoned and spoiled over his short life, even though this subplot appeared completely on the fly.

Until next time… take care.


	10. growing up

All right, here we go again…

Jatha: I can see your point there… Like I said in the last chapter. The storyline with Jiwe was pretty much tacked on in the last second, and I had to bring it to an end since there would have been complications once we get to the third part. The bad grammer may have come from me once again rushing to get the chapter out on Monday night. Yet I'm still glad for constructive criticism.

Reldor: I actually had to look up the word "baller". There is no direct German translation for that word. I'm still not 100% sure what it really means but I have a really good idea.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 10: growing up<span>

"JIWE!" A lioness screamed through the once rich and graceful looking pride lands. Dust lay over the land as the orange light of he afternoon gloomed down on the African savannah. Her feet were tired from all the walking she had done and her voice sounded raspy from all the shouting. Her coat was torn up from the sand and dust as well as the heat and lack of water she had to sustain for the day. Since she woke up that morning, the lioness had done nothing else but walking around the kingdom, searching for the cub that was her son. Something she did for nearly the whole last week. "JIWE! WHERE ARE YOU?" She called out once again but received no answer.

"Kimae! Come home!" Someone said with a gentle but deep voice as the lioness turned her head to face the former queen Sarabi.

Kimaes face looked horrible due to the tears that escaped her eyes for the last couple of days. Her face was skinny since she had no interest in eating or drinking until she was back together with her cub. "But… but he's got to be somewhere! And he… he… he needs me!" She stuttered while glancing around hectically for any movement in the distance.

Sarabi walked up to her and put a paw on her shoulder. "Saying this hurts me more than you think but… he has been out there for such a long time. A cub all alone by himself can't survive for that long." The other beige lioness said with a heavy heart.

Yet the lioness Kimae could not be calmed down. "So… that's it? You expect me to let go just like that? I… I just can't do that. He IS after all my son." Her voice was a mix of disappointment and panic.

"I don't want you to lose your grip on life, there still so much joy left in this world. And like I told you, it hurts me to see you being like this." The former queen answered and put her left front leg around her shoulders. "I know this is hard for you, but let us help you get through this situation together. You, me and the pride."

Kimae once again glanced into the distance "Why did Scar let him run away like that?" She gasped in defeat and frustration. "If he just would have held on to him, He would still be here with me. Why didn't he hold him back?" Her head dropped down as she now faced the ground. "I know what he did was cruel and can never be taken back. But I will still miss him. Could you forgive your cub if he did something like that?"

Sarabis heart dropped as her thoughts drifted back to her own son. "Unfortunately, I will never be in the position to test that or find out myself."

Jiwes mother realized what box she had opened there and faced her former queen, NO, she was still her queen, with an apologizing look. "I'm sorry!" She said nearly whispering.

"It's alright! Let's just get back to the pride."

* * *

><p>"<em>I hope you realize in what kind of trouble you are young lady!" She said by looking down on her and her golden furred companion to her right. "All the negotiations to solve the cheetah problems over the last weeks are none and void. All the efforts, all the approaches, for nothing. And all of that because you wanted to play a prank on their leaders daughter. She continued giving the two cubs in front of her a lecture with a reproaching look on her face.<em>

_The female cub with the cream fur looked to the side to face her male friend._

"_OH NO! Don't look at HIM! I know that you had as much saying in this one as he did." She faced the golden furred cub. "I know that your father has a lot more to say to discuss with you than I have." The adult lioness interrupted the small female from saying anything in response. The male cub directed his eyes towards the floor._

_But mom. It was just a little harmless prank. She acted kinda' snobby, so we decided to teach her a lesson." Nala answered softly and acted innocent._

"_Her-fur-is-tainted- BLUE!" Sarafina answered right away stern and with a mad expression._

"_She didn't have to eat those berries. We told her to…"_

"_Simba told her that your fur only looks so shiny and beautiful because of those berries. You tricked her into it." The cream furred adult lioness once again interrupted her daughter angrily while Nala and Simba kept their eyes locked onto the ground. _

_Without looking at each other, both put on the same defeated and apologizing look as they simultaneously said with 'puppy eyes'. "We're sorry!" _

_Sarafina breathed a few times heavy and looked towards the far side of the cave they were in. "Well. I guess there's nothing for me to say right now. I think of something for your punishment Nala. As for you Simba, I think your parents will have to say enough to you as well. Go along!"_

_Both cubs didn't think twice and rushed out of the cave immediately. As they got far away enough from the adults to hear them, they started giggling. "That was a really funny thing you pulled back there Sim. Where did you get the information about those berries turning your coat blue anyway?" The cream female laughed and perked her ears up in excitement. _

"_A princes' secret!" Simba replied cocky as he closed his eyes and lifted his chin up. _

_Nala used her right paw to rub the top of his head which the young prince tried to prevent immediately. "By the way, have you been serious when you said that my coat looks shiny and beautiful?" _

_By hearing that, the young prince started to blush a little… even though he would have never admit that. "Well… I wouldn't say shiny, but something more being kinda… flaky!" Nala stopped in her tracks as she recognized the choice of words her best friend used. Quickly she faced him with a sly grimace. "You've been hanging around with my family a bit too often over the last time." She giggled and shoved Simba a bit with her left front paw._

Slowly, Nala opened her eyes. With a still dizzy head, she looked around her and was a bit surprised at what she saw around her. Over her, she could see parts of the carpet of stars in the sky. She must have been fallen asleep as she once again went out to her usual place where she thought about her passed away friend. Nala had no idea how long she had been out here, but she knew that her mother must have been already worried sick about her.

As quiet as possible, the cream cub moved back to pride rock which was not that far away. Once in a while, she tilted her head up and looked back at the stars. _I wonder if he can hear and see me from up there!_

Unbeknownst to her, another lion cub was going through a rather similar situation at that moment.

"_You deliberately disobeyed me!" His dad right away snapped at him after he scared the hyenas away. The king was definitely angry with him. And he was right. Even though Simba never intended for this adventure to end up like it did. Especially with his best friend Nala in danger. _

"_Dad! I'm sorry" He said right away to show his father that he knew what happened out here._

"_Let's go home!" The king said stern and wasted no time before he walked away with Zazu, Simba and Nala directly behind him. His ears fell flat to the sides of his head and he started to pad after his father as Nala kept as close to him as possible. _

"_I thought you were really brave!" She said and licked his left cheek._

_It didn't have that much effect on him by that time. The young prince still felt miserable. But even then he felt glad that she was always sticking up to him. He answered the gentle gesture with a quick smile. And it was the last time; the two really did something together. It was the day before their parents forbid them to play with each other for the rest of the week. After that nothing was the same… yet he would always remember that quick lick she gave him that day._

A quick smile appeared on the golden cubs face as he lay down on the ground in the middle of a jungle. He moved his head a little in a motion like he was nuzzling someone. It looked a bit weird to the meerkat and the warthog standing by.

"You know Pumbaa, he's been doing that a lot lately." Timon said with his arms crossed as he looked down on their new companion. "What do you make of it?"

The red coloured warthog opened his mouth to let out a quick belch before he said. "I don't know Timon, seems to me like he's dealing with the demons of his past, definitely responsible for the events that caused us meeting him in the desert in the first place. Or maybe it's the thought off a long lost love which even in his young years was sure to spend the rest of his life together with and has to realize that that's not gonna' happen. I don't know Timon. Timon… TIMON?" He called to his unusual friend.

But the little meerkat was already fast asleep and had already begun to snort. Pumbaa wanted to say something but found it better to hold still and decided to go to bed himself.

* * *

><p>When it came to think of an animal that lions despised the most, the choice was clear… hyenas. Over the last months, the really huge clan of hyenas that once wandered through the shadowlands and the elephant graveyard hat settled down in the pride lands. A land hyenas were forbidden to enter for generations. All of this because of king Scar, even thugh Scar had always thought of the hyenas as a second option to fulfill his plans. By now he was glad he had them with him. With such an army supporting him, there was barely a chance for any lioness to start rebel against his decisions.<p>

As a matter of fact, he barely had to make any decisions at all. The lionesses were complying and hunted when told to, even though they did it with displeasure and as slowly as possible. Every time the lionesses had a problem, the hyenas were there to protect him or to take the fall for him. So all he had to do was relax and enjoy his freedom of doing everything that a king wanted to do.

But there were still situations he had to handle himself. One thing was the incident with Jiwe. In order for the little cub to make his plan work, he had to tell his mother a story about how he ran away and how he wanted to be alone. He had to make up an excuse for not making the cub stay back in the pride even though he needed Jiwe gone.

And then there was Zira. Now that thing was not so easy to handle. He had caught him off guard. In a time where he was not paying attention, where he felt exhausted and tired. And that conspiring lioness used the right moment for her actions. He had to give her credit. She did a good job on using an opportunity like this. Just the way he had taught her. And now, he was the victim. And soon, she was going to give birth to his cub. He had always tried to prevent this from happening. Yet in a moment of not paying attention, she finally got what she wanted. But what has been done has been done.

"Excuse me your highness!"

_That must be Zazu?_ He thought and looked behind him to find the blue hornbill landing right in front of him. Every time the major-domo ran into the kings' chamber like that, he liked the thought of putting him in a cage more and more. Yet Scar shivered as he thought about the usual boring stuff he had to report. "What is it?" He muttered frustrated and shook his head.

"Oh nothing sire, it's just that I wanted to give away my usual morning report… if it is of interest with you by any chance." Zazu spoke the last part of the sentence as quickly and quietly as possible, yet made it no secret that he was being sarcastic.

As a matter of fact, Scar wasn't interested in it. He often told Zazu to stop giving him those nonsensical reports. As king, he had other things to do than to take care of hippos not wanting to share the river with the crocodiles. Not that there were so many hippos and crocodiles left in the pride lands anyway. "You know what Zazu, such little things are not as essential for the duty of being the king. Which basically means that I'm not in the mood." The brown/red lion remarked as he walked past the blue hornbill.

Zazu brought his wings to his hips in annoyance. "Well your majesty, it has always been the first thing that king Mufasa did when…"

At once, Scar got directly into Zazus face as his teeth were only inches away from the birds beak. "I thought I made it pretty clear that I never wanted to hear that name again."

The major-domo backed away in fear. The king had tried to eat him once already. "Well… uh…. Of course sire. As you wish. Well in that case, I have other things to do, excuse me!" He bowed down and quickly spread his wings to leave the den immediately.

Scar sighed heavily as he watched his right hand leaving the cave. He shook his head once again by the thought of having to deal with a similar situation again tomorrow. Getting back to sleep was no option after that conversation. But anyway, he decided to walk back to the stone that looked like a bed.

"Scar!"

_What now?_ Again the king thought but didn't dare to look into the direction of the new voice. But as he twisted around anyway, he found the former queen Sarabi standing in the mouth of the den. "Ah… my sister in law. What brings you to my dear home?"

The beige lioness looked at him concerned yet full of determination and passion. "I had a run in with Kimae this morning. You know, the mother of Jiwe. She was wandering through the kingdom completely disjointed and dehydrated. She has been doing that for a week now." She said calm yet was clear that she was somehow reproaching the king. "She made a really good point out there. You want to know which?" Sarabi asked but didn't even wait for Scar to retort. "Why didn't you stop that cub from running off like he did? You dragged him out there with you only to have him say to you that he needed some time alone."

Scar immediately realized what she was getting at. "It is a bit more complicated than that. You see…"

"No Scar, it's really simple. He tried to drown a cub from our pride, from your pride. Don't you think it is irresponsible to have a cub like Jiwe run around all by himself? All you had to do was saying 'I order you to stay here as your king'!"

Scar had to think of a good story to not make her suspicious. But what was a good reason to prevent the young male from running off. He had to go the miserable way. "Perhabs you're right."He said as he faced the ground. Sarabi on the other side tilted her head at the sudden breakdown by the often so arrogant and confident king. "I just thought he needed some time alone, I thought it was the best idea to have him calm down before approaching his problems correctly. When I think about the whole situation, I realize that now." He sat down and faced the wall of the den. "It is a shame that my handling with cubs is so poor. First I couldn't help Simba… and now little Jiwe!"

Sarabi, yet still a bit suspicious about Scars new behavior, let her thoughts sank in with heavy heart. But then again, she still held some commitment to her lionesses. "So what do we do about Kimae, we have to get her out of this misery."

"WE?" Scar answered right away and raised one eyebrow in wonder.

"Yes We! You, me and all the other members of the pride."

Scar waived a paw at his sister in law before walking out of the cave. "As king, I have to make sure that things go in regulated lanes. That does not include being the psychologist for mothers of murderers." He said cold having the former queens' mouth drop almost to the ground.

Even though Sarabi was completely caught on the wrong paw and couldn't believe what she was hearing, the lioness was not going to let the king get away with this. At once, she sprinted after Scar and blocked his path leading away from pride rock. "Did I hear that correctly? You're just giving up on her. How can you be so cold? She is a member of your pride, your kingdom." She snapped angrily and bared her teeth.

The brown/red lion however showed no emotion. "Be careful Sarabi, you might going to chew on more than you can handle. What do you care anyway, concentrate yourself on doing your responsibilities. I noticed the hunting parties are not that successful anymore." A grim smirk appeared on his face as he once again passed the lioness.

Sarabi watched after him. "I care because they are still my pride. Unlike your new installed successor, I still have a heart and an open ear for my lionesses. Something a real king and queen would do. If Mufasa would still be…"

"MUFASA IS DEAD!" Scar yelled immediately as he, just like with Zazu, went as close as possible to the lionesses face. He showed his teeth and growled at her. "I AM the king. I decide wath is right and what is wrong. Zira is my second in command. And that leaves you in charge of the hunting parties and the lionesses. Remember that!" He growled turning his back on her. "Oh… and one other thing. You better tell it your 'pride' at once. From this moment on… the name Mufasa is forbidden to be ever spoken out in the pride lands again." Scar didn't wait for an answer or a reaction from Sarabi and trotted along over the field in front of pride rock.

* * *

><p>Once again, the young lions had settled down right beside the waterhole where they often used to be. It was one of those places where they could relax and just enjoy themselves far away from the problems that were enclosing their world. However, the water hole had been dried out for the last few days, it was depressing to see this once beautiful and calm place being turned into a layout that could as well belonged to the shadowlands. Neither of the cubs knew exactly how it looked out there where the hyenas used to live until they came into the pride lands. Only Nala and Simba experienced the dryness and desolation which the shadowlands gave away.<p>

The pride was divided into three hunting parties which hunted from the first stroke of sunlight in the morning until dawn, maybe beyond. And since Nalas mother had to go out there every day, it was up to her to keep an eye on her brother. Meethu and Sabini were the only ones which were born around the same time. And since the other prides already had left the kingdom, there were no other newborns around. So the only other cubs left were Malka, Chumvi and the others with an age of half a year. Meethu and Sabini were jumping around each other in a game of tag as their sibling watched them from the distance.

Behind them were Tama and Tojo who decided to lie down on his back and scratching it with his paw. Tama watched him with annoyance as she rested her head on her paws and closing her eyes. "Do you remember how we used to watch up to the sky and played cloud guessing?" The ochre cub yawned as he kept glaring upwards. "I would love to do this one more time but… there are no more clouds up there." A sad expression appeared in his face and he glared to the side at the cream female. "It's just this milky blur with the sun shining down on us."

Nala giggled a little as she thought of the fun they had back then but felt something heavy approaching her heart as she continued. "Yeah! It was one of those games which… HE… perfected." The cream furred cub moved to her feet.

"Hey, it was me being the ultimate guesser." Tojo remarked as he faked to be offended. "He just copied me and added some things of his own."

He then felt a quick slap on his stomach and ached while rolling over to his side. "Which basically means that he perfected that method of yours." He heard someone say as he turned to see Chumvi approaching them with Kula at the back.

At once the cubs got to their feet to greeted the caramel female cub. Since the incident at another waterhole a week ago, Kula basically kept herself hiding only to come out for meals and to do little things. Her mother and Chumvi had tried to encourage her to go back out to the public and go back to being a normal cub. Each and every one of them gave her a hug as they gathered around to greet her back. The young lioness was completely flattened as all the voices and greetings crashed down on her. It took almost a minute for her to finally say a word to them. "Calm down guys, I've only been gone for a week."

But neither of them listened to her as Nala finally signalled them to calm down before she started talking. "What happened that you came back out today?" She asked blandly with a sly expression on her face.

Kula shrugged her shoulders and faced her friend. "One reason was to get old Chummy here back to moving again, he has been spending so much time around me here that he put on even more weight than usual." She mocked her dark brown friend but quickly gave him a slight nuzzle to the side. The others giggled a little at how Chumvi had been so overprotective about her the last week. "And then there was my mother who was ordering me to go out and have fun. She said there was going to be something waiting for me at afternoon which would make me feel sorry if I hadn't go to hang out with you once more."

Malka and the others raised their eyebrows about the last statement and what it meant. But they quickly ignored it as the settled themselves down one more time. Chumvi was about to pick his place beside Kula as he got knocked over from behind. "What the…!" He said as he glanced up to find Tojo standing over him. "What's that about To!"

"Revenge for that little smack you gave me!" The ochre cub replied and both of them once again engaged into one of their wrestling matches while the others laughed at the scene.

* * *

><p>While the cubs enjoyed their time of freedom once again, the adult lionesses' time were not so much filled with fun and play as more of the daily struggles for food. Himaya and Subira were carrying a freshly killed impala through the field in front of pride rock. They were the only ones from their hunting party to find any fresh meat they could kill. Both knew that this was not even being close to being enough for all of them. And that was exactly what they feared. Both lionesses were only a few yards away as they could already hear the laughter haling down from the castle in the middle of the kingdom. A sound that has been a constant tone inside the pride lands.<p>

Both of them looked at each other as they saw the first group of hyenas padding over to them. Subira quickly released the dead animal and bared her teeth. Immediately, she positioned herself in front of the prey to signalize that this one belonged to the lionesses. Within seconds, Himaya and Subira were surrounded by the grey animals as they glanced at the impala with lusty eyes. "Get lost poachers, this one is ours." Subira snapped without waiting for the hyenas to say any word.

"You want to discuss that with the boss?" Shenzi snarled as she made her way through the masse and faced the now furious lionesses. "He made it clear, first us… then you." She continued with a vicious grin.

Himaya had her back turned to the female hyena as she tried to protect the kill from the other side. "You better let us pass. Unless of course you want to have the whole pride coming after you within moments." She snapped without facing her.

However, Shenzi did not back down as more and more hyenas came walking up to the scene. The first bites were thrown at the lionesses and inch by inch, the circle closed in on them. One young male hyena tried to steal the impala just from under their noses. Subira saw it in the last second and slashed her paw at him. It didn't take long and all off the grey animals charged in to get a piece of the meat. Subira and Himaya were overtaken by the advantage in numbers that came from Shenzi and her pals.

A roar in the distance made them shook up as Sarabi led another group of lionesses down to engage in the battle. It all turned into a mess, paws were thrown and teeth were rammed into flesh. Sarafina directly faced the female leader of the hyenas as both of them circled around each other. "I bet you want me to tear apart because of the way I treated your daughter on our first night together."

The cream lioness didn't react to the statement and kept her calm. "I just want to get at you for lots of other reasons." With that both animals darted at each other as Sarafina tried to smack the hyena directly across the face.

Her whole life, Shenzi never thought she would have the courage to take on a lioness all by herself. But now, she was in charge of the whole clan. And she had Scar behind her, now she was the alpha in this land. She quickly dodged the attack and tried to bite Sarafinas neck from beneath her. Sarafina darted up and avoided the fangs of the grey animal. The lioness quickly dashed to the side as she used her left front paw to get a grip on Shenzi. Realizing she had the hyena in her grasp, she pushed her down while she spread her teeth wide open to go for Shenzis neck.

"ENOUGH! ROAAAAAAAR!" A loud echoing sound made all the fighting animals stop and turn their heads towards the source. They all glanced up as Scar and Zira walked down towards them. The king was furious as he made eye contact with Sarabi and Shenzi. The hyenas and lionesses separated and were now standing in two lines left and right from the king and his follower. Scar wasted no time and right away walked up to the dead impala. Zira immediately grasped the animal with her muzzle while Scar pointed his eyes directly at Sarabi. "Since your lionesses have nothing better to do than starting fights, I declare this kill to be mine."

Gasps were heard all over the place as hyenas and lionesses were about to protest. "Us… picking up a fight? That is ridiculous; they wanted to steal our kill!" Subira intervened but only received an icy glare from the brown/red king.

"They were trying to hide the food which was rightfully ours." Banzai said from his spot as he appeared right beside Shenzi.

Scar now once again faced the former queen as his face spread to a nasty smirk. "I know, that's why our dear Sarabi and her 'pride' are going out there to find more." He added with a mocking tone. Sarabi never let her eyes off from Scar as he didn't even care to respond and walked away. Even though this was not how he planned it to turn out, in the end he got what he wanted, a complete kill all for himself… and Zira.

Seeing as they were as much screwed over than the lionesses, the hyenas went their ways and left Sarabi, Subira, Himaya Nafsi and Sarafina staying behind. All five lionesses glanced around each other, making quick eye contacts, snarling as they hammered their paws into the ground in anger. "He gets the reward, we get the bruises." Subira said in frustration. "And then he makes us go out there again to feed them." She continued while she joined Himaya and Nafsi as they sat down in a circle.

"Well apparently, our king seems to care more about the feeding of his 'loyal supporters' than for the well being of the whole pride." Sarafina answered while licking some of her wound she received during her fight with Shenzi. She was way beyond hiding her thoughts about the way their new king was ruling their kingdom.

Sarabi eyed all of them and sat down in front of her friends. "It fits exactly in the picture, when I talked with him about Kimae, he reacted the same way, he doesn't care for any of us. The only thing he cares about, is keeping his position." The former queen remarked as her ears dropped and she faced the ground. She had never been eye to eye with Scar, yet she never thought of him as being this cruel to his own pride. But she was completely powerless. He was the king, and since there was no one to step in line. No… she couldn't even think about such thoughts. Scar was the rightful ruler of the pride lands. As much as she would have liked too, she couldn't just start a rebellion against their king. It was just not right.

"So what do we do about it?" Himaya asked glancing around to find any source of a solution.

"For now, we can't do anything. We just have to arrange ourselves with the situation unless there is a chance for us to make it better. But I can tell what I'm definitely going to allow, and that is having the hyenas weakening our position in here. This is still my kingdom, even though I'm not the queen anymore. And I still have to make a stand for my pride, for all the animals that live here… and to keep Mufasas philosophy of the circle of life going." The beige lioness replied and stared into the distance.

The other four nodded in agreement. Yet Sarafina still held a skeptical look on her face. "The hyenas still have an advantage in number. We need all of our strength to hunt, how can we defend ourselves from incidents like this?"

Sarabi walked up to her and put a paw on her shoulder. "We just have to stick together, everyone being there for each other." She quickly brought their foreheads together with her best friends as they shared a quick nuzzle. Then she walked once again over to Subira. "But now to something different." Her tone shifted from heavy and caring to slightly joyful which took the other four lionesses by surprise. "I think it's time for our cubs to learn a lesson."

* * *

><p>The cubs really enjoyed their time of hanging out beside the dried out waterhole. The playful mood, which Sabini and Meethu were in, really helped the older cubs to join in on it. Malka soon had joined in the little wrestling which his and Nalas siblings had gotten into. Chumvi had once more settled down with the others as they enjoyed a small breeze of cooling wind that went over the land, as much as that was possible with all the dust and sand getting carried away with it.<p>

"You know what I kept asking myself for the whole week?" Kula said as she raised her head from her paws to look into the circle of lion cubs. The others' heads turned towards her as she continued. "Over all these days, I already thanked Chummy and Malka, but still didn't have the chance to thank Mwehu. Where is he hiding anyway?" She thought about how Mwehu had interfered and basically fought of Jiwe by himself. Yet the scarred lion cub barely showed up in the pride lands and around pride rock anymore.

The others just glared at each other without saying word until Nala spoke up. "We don't know, we have not seen him since that day. There's… just no sign of him." She said while she rubbed her right front paw over the ground.

"I hate to say it but… it seems like he really kinda changed since his first day here." It came out form Tojo who still kept scratching his underbelly with closed eyes and a relaxed expression on his face. He remembered how he was the first to get on the bad side of the lone cub that caused all sorts of trouble during his first weeks around the pride. In some way, the whole incident with Jiwe was built on his doings. Giving how he had injured the beige male cub in the first place.

"Yeah… seems so!" Chumvi yawned as he prepared himself to take a quick nap.

In the distance, Sarafina and Subira appeared on a small hill were they could overview the whole valley. It took them a while to spot the group of cubs lying beside the dried out waterhole completely in peace. Both lionesses stared at them as warm smiles appeared on their faces. "They look so peaceful!" Sarafina said towards Tamas mother.

"Yes, they do! Should we rip them out of their paradise?" Her friend asked with a sly smirk appearing on her face.

"Absolutely!" The cream furred lioness answered and returned the smirk.

Sarafina inhaled deeply before she started to roar. "NALA, KULA, TAMA!" She yelled out to the female cubs in the distance.

Down with the group, all of them immediately shook up as they heard the calls coming from the elder lionesses in the distance. Nala quickly perked her ears op and her eyes at once made contact with her mother standing on a hill. She didn't know what to make of that, was she going to lecture her once more.

"TOJO, CHUMVI, MALKA!" They again heard Tamas mother yelling in the same stern tone that Sarafina had moments ago. All cubs got to their feet right away while they constantly kept looking at each other in confusion.

Malka faced the others still in his sitting position as he stretched out his arms as if to say. _What did we do now?_ But there was not time to wonder as both adult lionesses kept calling their names but now with more determination and demand. They quickly rushed over to them as they were greeted with quick smiles. Nala gave her mother a quick nuzzle as well as Tama gave hers before the tarnish/orange cub assembled to gather with the other females in front of Sarafina. "Alright! Nala, Tama, Kula you come with me. Tojo, Chumvi, Malka will go with Subira. We bring Sabini and Meethu back to pride rock and then we go."

"Where are we going mom?" Nala asked as she glanced up to her mother with confused eyes.

Sarafina returned her smile and sad proudly. "You're going to have your first hunting lesson.

_Miles away_

"Damn!" He muttered under the pain he felt right now. _How could I be so stupid?_ His thoughts continued as he dragged his body over the grass. "I'm such an ox!" He snarled. Mwehu twisted his head to look at his left hind leg. The fresh wound and the deep cut could still be seen from far away. His fur back there was tainted red from the blood that ran out of the wound. The scarred cub was barely able to walk on the leg. But even though there was nothing broken, Mwehu knew that it would take weeks for tit to be back to a state where he could walk proberly.

But what made him even more alarmed was the fact that he was now completely vulnerable. He was no longer in the position to defend himself from any animal, bigger or smaller. He had to get back to his den. The huge acacia tree was still hundreds of yards away and the field over there was completely open. The pale cream cub pushed himself forward across the veldt with all that was left in him before he finally reached the tree. As the cub dragged his broken body inside he couldn't help but smile at what just happened.

Even if he had been beaten down, he still managed get out of his misery without receiving too many injuries. Yet he still could punch himself for his stupidity. In the shelter beyond him, he could hear paw steps getting closer and closer as Mwehu could already tell what was going to happen next. _No… not him!_

"Aha, I thoud' I might' find yu' down ere'" The old mandrill Rafiki greeted the scarred lion cub as he stuck his head inside the den. It was interesting to see how the now much bigger cub tried to climb down into the small hole underneath the tree. The baboon spotted the red part of the cubs' body and how he licked the wound that was on it. "Wat' happened?" He asked shocked.

Mwehu just looked at him without showing any emotion. "I just had a bad run in with a leopard." He said cold as if he was playing down the situation.

The baboon smirked down on him and grasped his stick. "Yu' know. I hav' somethin' to help yu'!" With that, he started to climb back up the tree.

Mwehu was about to say something when he spotted a brown/red figure walking through the veldt a few miles away. It was barely a glimpse of a second in which he could see him. But immediately, he knew who it was. _Scar!_ The cub still remembered what happened on their first encounter. And he still had not forgotten it. The pale cream cub got to his feet, as slowly as possible, and was ready to leave the den. But just as he got out, he felt a hand grabbing him from behind and holding him back. Furiously, Mwehu turned around to find Rafiki holding his right hind leg. For a moment he was thinking about just pulling the leg out of his grab. But that would have been an uncontrollable risk for his left leg.

"Here! Take dis'!" The mandrill said as he showed Mwehu a strange looking potion. "Dis' will get yu' back to normal in no time!" He added and let go of the young lion.

In that moment, the scarred cub realized a very important part. _In order to face Scar later on, I think I might need his, their he- I need their heee- Their heeellll-. What is that word?_ He thought before he dropped down to the ground. "Alright… do your little whiz thing." He muttered.

Rafiki wasted no time and started working on the injury. Although he usually would have went forth to lecture or at least ask Mwehu about getting into a fight with a leopard. But after so many times, he let it go and let the lion go his way. At least he tried to associate with the other cubs after all. It didn't take long for him to roam his medicine over the cubs' leg and signal him that he could get back to his feet.

Without thinking twice, Mwehu got back up and padded away, or rather limping away from the scene.

"Where are you going?"

"Training! I got work to do!" He padded still trying to avoid any pressure on the hurt leg while walking down the savannah.

_They're days that make you fly. They're days you wanna cry_

Nala, Kula and Tama kept waiting in the grass as they watched Sarafina and a few other lionesses running down the field and chasing after a little group of zebras. The cream female cub studied her mother closely as she tried to learn every move that the older lioness was doing.

_Sometimes the walls come tumbling down  
><em>

Simba walked through the jungle where he had started a completely new life alongside his new friends Timon and Pumbaa. Even though he had long before stopped thinking about his past The scene of a chimpanzee mother pulling the louses of her child's fur made the golden cub think back to how he hated being bathed by his mother. And when looking back to his youth, he should have enjoyed it more.

_They're moments in the dark. When pain just floods your heart. And you surrender one more time _

Kula relaxed just aside a tree branch as vision from her encounter with Jiwe came back to her mind. The memories of her life being extinguished by the beige cub made her eyes fill with tears. A sound in the back made her shook up in panic. Movement behind her made Kula nearly run. But then she realized that it was only Chumvi who lay down beside her and snuggled up to the caramel furred female._  
><em>

_Just take a walk out in the rain. With every drop that falls_

With his still hurt leg, Mwehu climbed up a rocky path leading up a mountain. He used his back legs to jump up every new level of the path in order to strengthen them. Yet with every jump he took, he gritted his teeth in pain, but always held the image of the current king in front of him to keep his motivation up.

_You know the sun will shine again_

Subira was observing the three now much older looking male cubs as they slowly walked across the veldt with their bodies kept low, they were sneaking up to a young antelope a few hundred yards away. With a quick command by Tojo, they all raced after it with hunger and determination in their eyes._  
><em>

_They're days you're naturally high. They're days you wanna die_

With Nala, Kula and Tama bringing back their first kill, Sarabi and Sarafina smiled proudly at the cubs. The three now adolescent lionesses dropped an antelope right in front of the older members of the pride. Within seconds the place as stormed hungry hyenas that wanted to steal the freshly killed meat away. Nala right away dashed forward and growled viciously towards one of the grey animals as the rest of the lions joined. The hyenas backed up with curses flying over to the pride. Sarafina walked up to her daughter and put an arm over her shoulder showing how proud she was.

_Sometimes your world goes down in flames  
><em>

Scar entered his royal chamber to find Rafiki, Spotty and Dotty circling around the screaming Zira. The tarnish lioness had gone into labor a few hour sago signaling that his cub was about to come into this world. He watched Rafiki finally holding the infant cub in his arms as he handed it over to the lioness. It was one of the rare occasions where Zira looked really caring as she glanced over to Scar who kept his emotionless grimace.

_They're moments deep in love. But when it breaks your heart_

With quick steps, Tojo had Chumvi pinned down to the ground as the two wrestled once again. It was the first time that the ochre lion was triumphant over his dark brown friend. He raised his head up proudly and glanced over to the females on the side. Yet his ears dropped a little as he saw that a certain cream female lioness had her eyes directed somewhere else in that moment.

_You just surrender one more time  
><em>

With exhaustion in his eyes, the scarred adolescent lion Mwehu ran as fast as he could over the savannah chasing a fulyl grown cheetah. Of course there was no chance of him catching up to the much faster animal. But he wanted to know how much of running his body could take at once. And in some way, he liked the feeling of giving everything and defying the odds.

_Just take a walk out in the rain. _

In the jungle, Timon and Pumbaa cowered behind a tree as they tried to mute their whimpering noises while hiding from a leopard. The yellow spotted animal located them and immediately darted into their direction. It was in the last second that a now adolescent Simba came into view and roared at the other feline which wanted to eat his friends. With quick paws, he struck the leopard across the face before the beaten animal ran away. Right away, Timon jumped up to the lions head and rubbed his pals' recently growing red mane.

_With every step you make, you learn that life means constant change  
><em>

Nala, her mother and Tama were waiting between the high but dried out brown grass. The sun was already setting as they heads shook in frustration. Hunting was taking longer and longer since the pride lands more and more turned into the barren wasteland that was described as the shadowlands. Sarafina made a wink to the other two lionesses to call this day' hunt off as they returned back to pride rock with hanging heads.

_Tomorrow's all that counts, as life goes round 'n round_

Far away, Mwehu kept slashing his claws at the leftovers of a tree with his claws extended, his paws were tainted red from all the splinters coming out of the wood and slowly ripping up the lions paws. In the distance, Rafiki watched him from upside his tree as he stroke the hair on his chin which could be called as his beard.

_You gotta draw the line. Goodbye yesterday_

Kimae stood at a bank of one of the rivers that were still flowing and had not dried out. In her mouth, she held a bone which belonged to Jiwe. Her son loved to chew on it since he was still an infant and later on when he grew teeth. With heavy heart, she released the tool and let it drop into the water as it got carried away, along with her last hope of seeing her son again._  
><em>

_Tomorrow's all that counts, as life goes round 'n round_

Zira called for her son as the cub padded over to her. Scar watched the two from the distance yet facing his son with a neutral and somehow distant glance. Even though, this cub was technically the heir or his throne. He could tell that there was no king material left in little Nuka to carry on his legacy. Not to mention that he never wanted to have a son with Zira in the first place.

_And if you keep the faith. Time will call your name  
><em>

Far over in the jungle, Simba marched through the woods as he kept glaring around him. His meerkat and warthog friends made him accept bugs as his meal. However, the adolescent lion kept low behind a tree branch lying on the ground. He spotted an impala eating and resting just a few yards away in a clearing. He licked his lips and darted forward as he gave chase to the animal.

_Take a walk out in the rain  
><em>

_With every breath you take, you feel your soul is free again_

Chumvi and Kula walked side by side through a clear yet unbearable hot night. While the caramel lioness smiled happily because of these occasion. Both were watched by Tojo from the distance as he kept shifting his head from the fresh couple over to where he spotted his other friends sitting and chatting. Once again, he glanced deeply on the cream lioness that he kept thinking about the last few weeks._  
><em>

_Tomorrow's all that counts. As life goes round 'n round_

Scar wandered around pride rock as he searched for food in the barren land. But all he found were old bones with no meat left on theml. He heard movement behind and found Sarabi staring towards him with angry and stern eyes. Scar didn't say anything and just passed by her as he gave the lioness an icy glare._  
><em>

_You gotta draw the line. Goodbye yesterday _

Again Tama and Kula were chasing an antelope over the dried out fields of the pride lands. Both lionesses were at full speed trying to catch up with the fleeing animal. The tarnish/orange lioness dashed forward and extended her claws as she reached for the creature. But her prey jumped to the right and avoided Tamas attack.

_Tomorrow's all that count, as life goes round 'n round  
><em>

Kula immediately charged forward to keep the chase going. Unfortunately, Kula bumped into Tama who was trying to get back to her feet and both lionesses landed hard on the ground. All they could do now was to watch the antelope getting away.

_And if you keep the faith, time will call your name  
><em>

Just then! A flash of cream passed both of them and they jerked their heads up in surprise. Nala was now running in full speed as she chased after the animal. Kula and Tama were amazed at how quickly her friend was catching up with their prey. As she got close enough, Nala spread her front legs and extended her claws. Her fangs cut deep into the back of the animal and both of them rumbled before dropping to the ground. Nala was quicker on her feet as she enclosed her muzzle on the antelopes. Due to that move, Nalas victim was unable to breath and suffocated.

After Nala had singlehandedly killed the antelope, she raised her head into the air in triumph and pride. He roar was long and confident as she let everybody know that who was going to become the best huntress in the pride lands.

_Miles away_.

Mwehu had his head facing the ground where he kept looking at his reflection in a puddle of water. His gaze wandered to the top of his head. While all the other cubs were grown rather good looking manes. He was still kept with the Mohawk he had grown a year ago. With his paw, he strove over his head and kept touching for any more hear growing on it. But there was nothing.

And yet he had other thing s to worry about. He had been tormenting his body and mind for the last year for a certain purpose. To get back at Scar and the first feeling of defeat the scarred cub ever felt. "Time to rattle his cage!" The pale cream lion muttered and kicked his right hind leg at a small and thin tree, breaking it in half.

* * *

><p>Again, the evening set over the pride lands. Like most of the day, when they were not feasting on the hunts the lionesses brought, or complaining about the recent lack of water, the hyenas were already fast asleep and snored all over the plateau in front and around pride rock. On the other hand were the lions, especially the adolescent ones that were still wide awake.<p>

Tojo was padding back and forth nervously and out of calm. _Okay, okay… there's nothing to panic here! Just be yourself. It's just that simple. And… DON'T make an idiot out of yourself._ The thoughts ran through his mind as he tested his breath on his paw. Not that there was any chance for a lion to make it better in the first place. His head jerked up as he spotted Nala and Tama walking side bay side a few yards to his right as they passed him. _Now or never!_

The ochre lion breathed heavily twice as he pumped up his chest before stepping over to his two friends. "Hey there!" He greeted the two lionesses. _Genius!_ His mind ran in sarcasm. Both females giggled at how Tojo raised his left paw and made an expression like an uneasy cub before they greeted him. "Listen uhm… Tama… could I speak with Nala… uhm… kinda… alone?"

The tarnish/orange lioness smiled mocking as she immediately realized what was going on. "Sure… see you around!" She quickly said before walking over the area where she spotted Malka, Sabini and Meethu.

So now Nala and Tojo were standing pretty much alone without anyone being able to hear what they were saying. "So what's the deal here Tojo?" The cream furred lioness asked with a gentle yet sly voice while Tojo kept moving his front legs back and forth on the spot.

"Oh… nothing that much! I just wanted to… I wanted to know… if you would like to… take a walk with me." _Take a walk… seriously? Forget about that 'genius' remark earlier. _The ochre lion had his head bowed down as he tried to avoid Nalas questioning and wondering eyes. Yes he had a crush on her for the last weeks and months. He couldn't help it, he really liked her. In some way, he was even impressed by the cream lioness. The way she moved during hunts, how she often stood up for her friends, and how she took care of her brother in his early months. She was clever, caring and yet was feisty and strong. He really adored her.

Nala gave him a quick smirk as she spoke up. "Okay! Let's go!" She added as she rubbed the new grown ochre hair on Tojos head. He blushed a little as he waived his paw as if to say, after you. Together, both adolescent lions moved away from pride rock beneath the star filled sky.

Neither of them knew that a set of green caring eyes were observing the scene very carefully. Sarafina smiled as she saw her daughter walk along with one of her friends as she could read the signs, Tojo was giving away, pretty well. She was glad to see how Nala turned to out to be a very confident lioness. She sure would have made a great queen.

"They grow up so fast!"

She heard a sinister voice calling towards her from behind. Quickly Sarafina turned her head and her face straightened as she spotted Scar walking over to her. It had to happen sooner or later, that her old childhood friend would walk up to her. She was only surprised that it took so long. "They sure do!" Nalas mother remarked cold glancing back into her daughters' direction. "What can I do for you 'my king'!"

Scar frowned yet kept his calm. "Oh what did I do to receive such a harsh greeting?" The king responded while he moved over to the lying down lioness.

"You mean… besides chasing away the lion that made my life worth living again, inviting the hyenas into our home and driving our kingdom directly into a drought." Sarafinas voice was rejecting and stern. She really did not enjoy spending her time with Scar.

The king took another step closer to her and stood now right behind her. "Come on dear, after all we've been through, you can't still be so angry with me."

Something in his tone made Sarafina alert. She could read Scar like an open book. But this time, his motivations were a mystery to her. "It's not anger that I'm feeling right now, I just feel disappointed in how all of this turned out." She quickly got to her feet to not give away any chance for Scar to get funny ideas. She padded a few steps back as Scar kept moving closely.

"If you want to help recover my kingdom, there's still a place right at my side." The king smirked raising an eyebrow.

Like she thought, good thing she kept some distance between her and the red/brown lion. Sarafina frowned and sat back down. "What about your precious mate? You remember, the one that gave birth to your son Nuka." The cream lioness countered in a half mocking and half challenging tone. Unlike the hyenas and Zira, she was not afraid to give contra to the king.

"Zira is… merely a protégé! She has no queen material. Unlike you!" Scars green eyes were darting at her as he sat down a few feet away too.

"Jeez! Get a room!" Another voice interrupted the two. Within seconds, Mwehu came into view with determination.

Right away, Scar had to admit that he was surprised to see the little troublemaker walking up to pride rock. That is to say, he was surprised that he was still alive, and in good shape. Sarafina for her part took the chance and moved away from the king as the lion was to busy with observing the newcomer.

"So what are you doing?" Mwehu started.

"What am I doing?"

"What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing much!"

"Am I thwarting your plans?"

"Thwarting my plans?"

"Am I?"

Scar realized where this was going and waited a few seconds for a comeback. "Yes!" He said plainly.

"Oh that's bad!"

"How bad?"

"You have to kill me!"

"Wow that's bad!"

"Indeed!"

Sarafina grinned as she saw her opportunity to get away from this scene as discrete as possible. "I leave you two alone for the evening, I have to check on the other lionesses anyway. If that isn't a problem '_your majesty'?_" She said half laughing and taunting as she quickly padded away. Scar would have said something but the arrival of the adolescent lion was enough trouble he could afford right now.

Neither one of the two males said anything for about a whole minute before Mwehu once again broke the silence. "Surprised to see me?" He said as a small smirk appeared on his face.

Scar eyed him without any motion of his eyes. "I'm surprised to see that you nearly made it to adulthood. I thought a cub with an attitude like yours was going to end up as a carcass by the time you would reach an age of half a year." The king responded was he kept shooting darts into the pale cream lions face. "What do you want?"

Mwehu walked up a few steps showing neither fear nor second thoughts about his actions. "I just wanted to say hello… maybe give back something that I owe you." He stroked over the side of his face where had injured him nearly a year ago.

"Is that all? You wait until you get old enough to not have your head bitten off before you try to take revenge for something that happened way earlier in your childhood. That is really sad." Scar was absolutely confident. Why shouldn't he, the young lion was no match for him. One word and a horde of hyenas would run down on the troublemaker. "It's amusing to see the cub that once went along and got in trouble with all the other lions going around playing the hero and savior. First Kula… and now Sarafina. How com the sudden change in character?"

The pale cream lion took another few steps forward as he once again felt the thrill of looking directly into the beasts' mouth. "You know what, I might be an arrogant, good for nothing, trouble seeking prick with a psychopathic tendency and an anger control issue. And I'm pretty sure that when I die, I'm going to hell." The two were only a yard away from each other as fury ran through Mwehus body ready to explode at any time. "But if I go to hell, I don't even wanna' know where you are going." He finally snarled with no sign of backing down.

Suddenly, a smile appeared on Scars face as he padded from side to side glancing around. "You know, I could banish you from the pride lands just like I did with Ni. Nobody would even give a thing about you leaving." His glance was icy and distant. "But I doubt that such a measure would have an effect on you. You would still come back." The king turned his back on the lion not even a bit afraid that Mwehu could jump him. "After all I just need to say one word and my guards would be all over you." He eyed him again as his face was full of confidence.

Inside his head, Mwehu cursed. _I'm such an ox, how did I not think of that. I'm completely outnumbered here. The pride wouldn't come to my aid. They're to afraid of Scar and his troops. If I wouldn't have come out here and would have taken a different approach, I wouldn't have maneuvered myself in such a dead end. _"Stupid!" He mumbled without having the King notice. "But you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't turn this place into a mess just for a single lion standing up to you. NO! You want to do this discrete." He said as he grabbed on to his last way out.

Scar smiled once again, he knew to well how to handle this. "I don't do that, I'm a generous king, I let you stay here even though you're not a pridelander. That is due to the fact that I am not that bad of a person."

"I'm sure!" Mwehu didn't waste any time and strictly walked away from pride rock.

The king watched after him with a vicious smirk. "Gentleman!" He said calm as three full grown male hyenas marched out of the shadows and came to halt just a few feet behind him. "I want to you to handle this little distraction. And I want you to do it quietly." He said as the hyenas slowly moved down the path leading away from pride rock.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors note:<strong> the song I used for the montage is called "time will call your name" by the scorpions. Another German rock band which is in fact a coincidence. Unlike the last music number, the scene was set before I had the song. I just thought this song got the right tone I wanted to get across with the scene.


	11. Escalation

Hey there!

This is it… the big one. This is the biggest chapter by far up to this point.

Thanks again for the comments.

Now, if the 8th chapter was the 'naked gun' of this story, this definitely the 'transformers' of the bunch. Which brings me to a request. Since this chapter is really action packed and I want to do stuff like this in the future, I would like to know if I have gone over the top in terms of the violence and brutality. Especially in relation to Mwehus role in this part.

**Jatha and Reldor:** Thanks a lot

With that out of the way…

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 11: escalation<span>

Tojo and Nala kept walking, neither one of them paid attention about where and how long they kept padding through the kingdom. At this moment, life couldn't have been better for the ochre colored lion. Although there was barely a day, the two didn't spend together. It was still something completely different to be out here with just the two of them. There were no smart remarks from Malka or Tama. Chumvi and Kula were not drawing all the attention. It was just him and the cream furred lioness.

Nala herself was a bit unsure how to handle this. Of course, she realized that Tojo was acting kinda weird lately when she was around. And of course there were Tama and Kula who were giving her signs and little remarks about the situation. Yet she did not expect to be taken out by her friend today. And as a matter of fact, she never thought about her and Tojo getting together in the end.

_But why not?_ She thought. Tojo was gentle, quite good looking, cocky sometimes even though he wasn't that much of a braggart. Come to think of it, his behavior was very similar to Simbas. There still was not a single day where she didn't thought about her golden furred best friend. And of course that went along with the agreement hers and Simbas parents made over a year ago. Tojo really reminded her of him. _How would he react if Tojo and I would become a couple? _She shook her head slightly. It wasn't right to think about Simba right now. Tojo was trying to be nice to her and all she was doing was keeping thoughts about her lost fiancé.

"Nala? Are you listening?"

His voice broke her out of her trance as she gave him a confused look, yet tried to fake a smile. "Uhm yeah, I'm still here. Sorry I was just… thinking." She said a bit out of order. "What did you say?"

"I wanted to know if you were thirsty. There used to be a small spring just around that bush. We could stop by there if you want." He was trying to be as gentle as possible and tried not to annoy his friend at in any bid.

Nala pushed her shoulder into his side in a friendly gesture. "Sounds like a good idea!"

Both lions trotted around the little bush as Tojo started moving his paws over the ground to get some water bubbling out of it. His eyes widened as he realized. "It is… completely dried out. Just like the waterhole." The ochre lion gasped while he still tried desperately to get something out of the spring.

His cream furred friend padded over to him and put a paw on his shoulder. "Let it go Jo-jo! It's no use!" She mumbled in defeat while Tojo smashed his paw onto the ground in anger. Nala on the other side once again stared upwards to the sky. Although it looked beautiful, the fact that it had not rained for months send a shiver down her back. "This was once such a beautiful place. And now, it is just like that desert at the eastern border." She bowed her head as tears reached her eyes.

Tojo at once realized what was going on rushed over to her and put an arm around her. The lioness replied by burying her head into his fur. Tojo had not seen Nala cry since… since Scar told them about Simbas death. As gently as he could, he struck his right front paw over his friends side while whispering into her ears. "The rain will return. We will get through this."

She looked up at him with her aqua eyes being full of sadness. "Mufasa and Simba would have never forced us to overhunt. The circle of life would never have been broken."

"I know!" Tojo answered. As much as he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, the vision his cream furred friend being completely miserable right now made him forget of all his desires immediately.

Nala brought her head up once more. "I'm… I'm sorry Jo-jo! I think I ruined out little date here." She said moaning and swiped away some of her tears.

"Naah… it's okay. Just stop of giving yourself such a hard time." He gently replied still keeping her in a gentle embrace. Nala then got up and nuzzled Tojo warmly. The two spend quite a while in that position before walking back towards pride rock.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean <em>we lost him<em>?" A hyena shouted out towards his comrades in anger. "How could you have lost him? There is barely even anything left for him to hide in this god forbidden desert." He continued before another male hyena stepped in.

All three of them couldn't believe what just happened. King Scar ordered them to go after the adolescent lion called Mwehu. It was a simple task, follow the pale cream creature and assassin him in his sleep. Now however, the found themselves in the middle of the veldt with no sign of their target anywhere to be found. "He couldn't have gone far Baghami! He must be around here somewhere. We just have to keep looking."

The leader of the three eyed the third one still in anger. "If Tobwe would have paid more attention, we didn't have to keep looking."

Baghami, Tobwe and Bozi had been pals for their whole life. They really made the perfect trio with Baghami being the brain and leader of the trio with Bozi being the muscles and Tobwe being the mouth, yet sometimes goofball. Yet all three of them earned their rightful spot in the upper ranks of the hyena clan. They followed the call of their king with pleasure. Ever since their first encounter with the scarred lion, they wanted to tear him into pieces.

It happened over a year ago at a waterhole. Baghami and his friends were about to have some fun with some lion cubs as Mwehu walked in and mocked them long enough for an adult lioness to enter the scene and scare them away. What kind of business did he have to engage in their fun of bullying a few lion cubs anyway? Hell… he even was a lion cub himself.

"Me? Paying more attention? There are three of us. You are as much as sloppy as me." Tobwe remarked defensive extracting his paws in an apologizing way.

Baghami went fourth and growled at his friend in fury. "You were supposed to read his tracks. If you can't do that, then you should think about shifting your focus." The hyena continued but quickly backed away.

Just a few yards away from them, Bozi shook his head and once again stepped in between. "Come on guys, let's call this off. There's always tomorrow. Let's just get back to the boss." The bulky hyena mumbled and nodded his head into the direction of pride rock. "I think that the bastard is long gone anyway." Baghami backed off from Tobwe and followed his friend as they trotted back to their home.

If the trio would kept more attention to their surroundings, they would have noticed the pale craem spot that could be see just behind a tree truck lying horizontally on the ground yards away. If the wind wouldn't have changed minutes earlier, Mwehu would have been at least badly injured. He had no idea he was being followed until he caught the hyenas' ugly smell. _Those clowns would have jumped me the first chance they had got if I didn't duck. _He thought._ Well at least I'm sure now that Scar wants me dead. _He raised his head so he could peek over the wooden barrier.

The scarred lion watched his three chasers as they put more and more distance between them and him. _Maybe I could have taken them on all by myself. But not tonight, I will fight… but that will happen on my turns, when I want and how I want. _It was in his nature to be confident and sure about his actions. _If Scar would have executed me in public, he wouldn't have sent those three punching bags after me. He wants to do it quietly. Yet going back to live at the tree all on my own is kinda dangerous. Better to seek for a new home._

Mwehu got back to his feet and trotted over the veldt, his task of getting back at Scar just had reached a whole new level.

* * *

><p>Being on his own, being able to live a life that was completely free of commitments and responsibilities was all he wanted right now. It was the live that Timon and Pumbaa always told him about. It was the life of hakuna matata. As a young cub, all Simba could think of was to become the next king of the pride lands. There was not a single day where he didn't think about taking his place on the throne. But all that lay in the past now. He was no more the prince he was supposed to be. And he enjoyed it.<p>

Right now, the adolescent golden furred lion was lying on his back with his stomach directed towards the sky and scratching his belly with his paws. While the light of the sun came down to him with the plants and leaves of the jungle blocking some of the heat from above. It was really enjoyable as Simba inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. _Just like Timon and Pumbaa always say… hakuna matata!"_

"What's up buddy?"

He right away opened them again as he recognized the source of the voice. The meerkat raised his hand as he greeted his friend. "What ya' doing?" Timon then asked and gave a wink to his pal Pumbaa as the warthog came into view.

"Uh… nothing much. You know, relaxing, enjoying the day… all what makes life great. And you?"

Pumbaa carried a small tree branch with his toes and dropped it right in front of his lion friend. "Just preparing the menu." Timon laughed as he made a signing gesture at the wood. On the other hand, Pumbaa gasped deeply. Both his friends could see that working and body exercise was not his most favorite thing to do.

"You know, the best start for a good and healthy body is a strong base of nutrition." The red colored warthog said just before a small belch escaped his muzzle.

Both Timon and Simba waived their paws in front of their faces while turning their heads away in disgust. "Good and healthy body huh? I can't find anything _healthy_ about that thing." Timon answered sarcastically with all three of them bursting out in high pitched laughter. "Y'know Pumbaa! If you keep doing that, we might have to consider having you on quarantine for two or three nights. With your status of health it might be dangerous for us to be around you." Simba and Timon continued to laugh.

Yet it was in that moment that another one of Simbas memories came back into his head.

"_Sorry Simba, but that is not such a good idea right now." His mother said to him as the still young cub let his ears hang down for a while. _

"_But mom, I really want to go out play with Nala. I promise I won't do anything that could endanger me." He answered in a pleading voice and with big eyes._

_Yet his mother kept her calmness and determination. "As long as Rafiki did not take a look at her, nobody is allowed to be near her. And that includes you young man. Only her mother gets to be with her." The beige lioness answered giving the cub a slight nudge on the head. Simbas head dropped as he faced the ground sadly. "Come on my son. It is only for a short period of time. It won't last that long. Why don't you play with your other friends for a day?"_

"_They're not as much fun as Nala. They're not as funny and not as clever as her. And since she is in that prison, the whole day is ruined." He replied disappointed yet know that there was no one really to blame. _

_Sarabi smiled and shoved her son a bit further to the mouth of the cave they were in. "It's not a prison; she's just ill. It's more of a precaution. Call it a… quarantine!"_

_With that Simba trotted out of the den muttering in disappointment the whole way down pride rock "How do you get sick anyway. Thirst thing I'm going to do as king is to forbid being sick ever again."_

The golden furred lion remembered everything from that day. He remembered how he sneaked in the den later on as Sarafina wasn't there for a moment. And he remembered being really worried about her. His best friend was coughing and sneezing for the whole time. Her eyes were red from the tears she couldn't help to prevent; and that, most of the time, she was deadly tired and wanted to sleep.

And he remembered something really strange happening that day. Since the cream furred cub as asleep for most of the time, he couldn't help but stare at her for a while. The thought of his best friend laying there made him smile and his gaze wandered off into the distance. But suddenly he felt a paw waiving in front of his face as he stared into the eyes of Timon.

"Hey! You still here?" His friend asked.

Simba smirked and shoved his friend gently away and got to his feet. "Yeah I'm alright, listen guys. I'm going to take a walk, don't wait for me till dinner." H quickly left his two friends behind with somehow baffled faces as they watched after their huge companion.

* * *

><p>Since Kula, Tama and Nala had been completely integrated in the hunting parties, the adolescent males were mostly left alone back at pride rock. And so they decided to relax for the whole afternoon. They had settled down under a small tree just in the shadows of pride rock and except for Tojo, everybody was there.<p>

"So… the guy walks up to this huge rhino, looks deeply into his eyes… and says straight out 'what the hell is your problem'." Malka laughed as he told the other three males about an incident a few months back. "You have to think! There is this lion, barely a year old, walking up to this giant animal that could rip his head off and impale him with his horn. And he thinks that he could go all predator on it." Meethu and Chumvi shook their head while laughing with their paws in front of their muzzles. Then the pale orange lion continued with his story. "I have no idea what he thought he was doing, but I'm sure he would regret it back then. Didn't you Mwehu?"

All their heads turned around towards the pale cream lion that lay down on his stomach. Mwehu kept his eyes closed in annoyance as he rubbed the sides of his head. "Why did I let you talk me into this?" He muttered tired.

"Hey!" Chumvi called out and jerked his head up. "Last time I checked, it was you who wanted to come along with us." The dark brown replied in mocking sound. "If you don't want to be around us, you can go back to the place where you live anyway."

Mwehu rested his head on his paws and looked away from the group. "Try to make me!" He replied challenging. Right away, Chumvi got to his feet and growled at the scarred lion.

It was then that Malka got in between them. "Guys, guys calm down. I don't want to put both of you into your places. It's just not worth the effort." Slowly, both relaxed and laid back down.

"So!" The scarred lion said once more. "This is what you do all day long?" Since the events of last night, Mwehu decided it was the best idea to get some company for a change. He needed at least some crowd during the day to get a good game plan for dealing with his three stalkers. But he never expected anything like this. "This is so boring and dull." He muttered once more.

Meethu, not far away, rolled his eyes in annoyance. "What do you do with _your_ time? I mean besides not ruining other lions' fun." Beside him, Malka chuckled slightly and tilted his head in the direction of pride rock.

"I hunt… I train… at least I do stuff!"

"Hey guys!" Before either one of the lions could respond once more, they heard another voice coming from behind them.

Chumvi tilted his head as he spotted the ochre lion Tojo padding over to his three friends. Right away, Malka and the dark brown lion locked eyes on each other as they exchanged mischievous smiles. "And… Jo-jo! How did it go?" The pale orange lion asked while stroking with his paw through his black mane. But Tojo didn't even have to answer as Malka saw his friend dropping to the ground. "That bad huh?" He remarked quickly.

"Actually not, it went well at first. It went really good. But somewhere in between, she just broke down crying. There was nothing to do and I just brought her back home." Tojo answered plying with his claws on the sandy ground.

"What did you do to make her cry?" Chumvi came in trying to be as polite and reserved.

"I didn't do anything to her. Somehow, our conversation came back to Simba and Mufasa and then… she began to cry."

Chumvis and Malkas eyes grew wide as some sort of realization came to their minds. Meethu, who had kept in the back, just shook his head and laughed a little. "Haha… Tojo and Nala sitting in a tree… k-i-s-s…"

"OH WAIT YOU LITTLE…" The ochre lion yelled as he chased after the younger male. Chumvi and Malka rolled on the floor as they laughed hysterically.

"That kid has so much of his father!" All three left over males lifted their heads to see Nala and Tama joining them. The cream colored female also glanced after her brother running through the veldt.

"Who is this kids' father anyway? The only male I've seen around lately is Scar. And devil help us if he is the one." Mwehu asked and caused Tama and to roll her eyes and face palm.

"Come on scarface. His name should indication enough." The tarnish lioness answered in a mocking tone.

"I don't get it!" Mwehu answered.

"Oh jeez… okay listen. His name is Meethu right?"

"Yeah!"

"Meethu as in the meaning 'me too' right?"

"Go on!"

"Me too is a response to the sentence 'I am'!"

"Okay!"

"Like… if I would be going up to you and be like... I am a lion. What would your respond be?"

Mwehu thought a little bit before he answered. "Yes, me too!"

"So the response to me too is I am!"

"Get to the point."

"African slang for I am?"

The scarred lion brought his paw to his chin. "Oh that one I know! It's…" He started to say as his eyes grew big in realization.

Tamas face lit up as he padded the lion on his back. "WOW! He's got it."

"Hm… come to think of it, once you get to the conclusion… it wasn't that farfetched." Mwehu added scratching the back of his head.

Seeing since this has gone long enough. Nala decided to get this crowd moving. "Come on guys, we have to keep going. We need everybody to participate in the hunts. It's getting nearly impossible for us to find enough food for us." Her head hung low as she thought about how the previous hunt went along. And since Scar was no longer accepting failures, they had no choice than to keep searching. Leaving Mwehu behind, the all followed their "leader" with hanging heads back to pride rock.

* * *

><p>Scar was frustrated as he lay down in his den yet kept himself in the shadows. Every where he looked he saw nothing else but insubordinates and fools. The lionesses were doing their best to sabotage his royality, Sarabi and Sarafina were holding back their lionesses in hunts so that the hyenas were going to him to ask for food. It was all of them conspiring to throw him off the throne.<p>

The hyenas were not making things better. Over the last months they had changed into a bunch of lazy pretty madonnas that were always coming up to him to moan and complain. Why couldn't they just walk up to the lionesses and talk to them about their problems. Speaking about problems, those three fools which he send after that scarred troublemaker lion had been a completely waste of time. How could someone lose sight of a lion that was walking right in front of their faces through a veldt? Their stupidity was even far bigger than he had experienced by dealing with Shenzi, banzai and Ed.

And then there was his son and Zira. Not only did the tarnish lioness trick him into fatherhood. No… she also had the audacity to give him a son that was an even bigger fool than the ones he had to deal with everyday. If he would have been able to mate with Sarafina, she would have given him a worthy child. He watched her daughter Nala and her son Meethu growing up in this pride and become quite confident in their movements. The way how the young cream furred lioness had walked away yesterday with that Tojo reminded him a lot about his own youth and how he tried to get a date with Sarafina for so many times.

But now, all of them were against him, ready to push him off his throne all they needed was… a confident male. Scars eyed widened immediately as the thought got bigger and bigger and peered itself into his mind. "ZIRA!" The king yelled for the tarnish lioness that had helped him getting to the position he was in right now.

"Yes Scar!" She said as she entered the den alongside her son Nuka.

"Hey dad, look what I can do!" The seven months old Nuka said as he went into a fighting stance and started pouncing on his father. The tarnish cub/adolescent jumped at the king as he tried to throw Scar of his feet. The red/brown lion was clearly annoyed by his sons little games tried to ignore him. But Nuka tried it again and again until Scar had enough.

With a quick move, he slapped his son across the face as he flew straight up towards his mothers' feet. "YOU LITTLE BRAT, can't you see that I got more important things to do than BABYSITTING YOU?" He yelled and showed no emotion towards his supposedly heir.

Nuka quickly eyes his mother as tears began to come out of his green eyes. But he didn't even receive any emotion form her either. "When the king wants to speak with somebody, you better keep it down and mind your manners." She said not as cold as Scar, but making it pretty sure what she thought of his actions back there. With a defeated and hurt look, the cub/adolescent lion walked out of the den without taking any further look at his parents.

"What is it you wanted to talk about with me?" Zitra then asked without any second thoughts about Scar hitting her son across the face.

Scar eyed her with his cold green eyes and got pretty close to her. "I want to know everything about the relationships between the lionesses, who they like most, how their bonds work, and what their attitude towards the males is."

"What do you need it for?"

A vicious and mischievous smirk appeared across the kings' face as he brought his muzzle close to her ear. "Strengthening my position as king."

* * *

><p>By the time the adolescent lions arrived back at pride rock, a huge crowd had already gathered in front of the kings' chamber. Loud mumbling could be heard from far away as they made their way up to their pride. The lionesses stuck close together as nearly the whole hyena clan decided to join in on this commotion. Lots of the grey animals snarled at them while the lionesses countered with angry eyes and bared teeth. Right away, Nala and Meethu made their way up to their mother who had put on a stern expression. "What's wrong?" She asked Sarafina as she nudged her with her nose.<p>

At first, the older lioness did not really respond while her eyes kept locked on the entrance of the cave. "Our 'king' wanted all of us to gather around pride rock so he could 'inform' us of a special occasion taking place." She then answered letting everyone know that she didn't like the idea one bit. Sarafina had barely spoken with her daughter as the brown/red furred king walked out of his den.

Scar had his head held high in arrogance while he padded up a small boulder where he could overview all of the animals. "Today, is the day that we celebrate one year of our new era." He started calling. "I decided to have a special feist for all of us to show our unity and greatness.

If the situation wouldn't have been so serious, Subira and Sarafina would have started laughing right on the spot. The cream lioness brought her muzzle close to Tamas mother as she whispered. "I hope he is joking about this whole 'unity' thing."

"He doesn't even get the dates right. His time as king is going on for more than a year. Either he is really sloppy, or there is a bigger purpose on this. In any case, I don't like this one bit." Subira replied in the tone yet showed more of a concern.

Yet Scar continued with his speech. "So in order for this glorious celebration to take place, I want all of you lionesses to go out there and find the biggest kill in the world."

The lionesses gasped as they realized what he was challenging from them. "Scar!" Sarabi intervened right away as she stepped forward from the pride. "You can't seriously demand us to go out there again, they are tired, they've been hunting for nearly the whole day. They need a rest." The former queen said angrily yet had an almost pleading look on her face as she stopped only two feet away from him.

"Oh you can… and you will!" Scar replied cold and Sarabis eyes narrowed as the beige lioness frowned.

"What gives you the right to treat anyone in the pride lands as your little bee that is only there to provide you with food and make your ego bigger and bigger?"

Scar held his green yes on her and never changed his expression. "Oh I don't know Sarabi. Maybe it's the fact that I AM KING OF THE PRIDE LANDS! So YOU will do as I say." They both glared at each other while all of the hyenas observed the scene with delight. The pride on the other side was completely tensed.

Finally, Sarabi faced her pride members as her eyes showed all the dislike and the anger that was running through her body. "Let's go!" She muttered in defeat as she walked through the lines of disbelieving lionesses. Subira and Sarafina took a glance back at their king with anger before following the rest of the pride down from pride rock. Chumvi, Tojo and Malka looked at each other confused as they didn't know if they should join their female pride members. But just like Nala said, they needed everybody to help them keeping the pride provided with food.

The trio was about to follow as they heard Scar once again calling out to them. "HEY YOU THREE!"

Right away, the males stood still and turned around to the king who made its way down to them. "You are not part of the hunting. I have a different task for you." Scar said with a faked and mocking smile.

_Miles away_

Baghami didn't even wait for the rest of the gathering to end as he had already distanced himself from the giant castle called pride rock. He knew what task his king had instructed him with and wasted no time persuading it. "Get up you two!" The male hyena said as he passed the sleeping Tobwe and Bozi. He kicked them in the side to finally make them wake up. "Come on, we got no time to waste!" Baghami kept shouting as his two friends raised their heads and went to their feet.

Bozi and Tobwe didn't need to think twice in order to understand what their leader was hinting at. With still dreamy moves, they followed Baghami over the dry and dusty ground. The trio passed another duo of male hyenas as they received the same treatment than Bozi and Tobwe. "Are you in?" The hyena in the front asked the two lying on the ground.

"What are we doing? Where are we going?" Both of them nearly asked at the same time while Baghami gave them a nasty smile.

"We go rogue hunting!"

* * *

><p>The lionesses were on the hunt. Tension could be felt all over the field as the group kept as low to the ground as possible. Subira could feel her friends' breath getting lower and calmer with every step they took forward. Her face wandered off into the distance where the group had spotted a full grown buffalo. A meal that she hoped was <em>worthy<em> for their king.

The tarnish/orange lioness then spotted another team of her pride members getting closer from the other side, Kula and Tama. She smiled as she saw how great they worked together with the older lionesses. A quick move to her left made her turn around to see Sarabi giving signs and orders to every part of the hunting party. In order to kill a full grown male buffalo, they needed every member doing the part they were ordered to do.

In a dried out river bed, Nala, Himaya and Sarafina lay down and hid their heads from being spotted by the chosen prey. Beside the complete focus on the task at hand, Sarafina had never felt more proud of her daughter than now. Even in her young age, Nala was chosen to make the final move and the killing bite. It was then that she quickly peaked over the edge of the bank and saw Sarabi giving the commando for the hunt to start heating up.

And then, Kula and Tama along with three other lionesses went into a sprint making the buffalo tilt his head in surprise and shock. Seeing as his life was very close to come to an end. The black furred animal ran away as fast as he could. Tamas and Kulas lungs were giving everything they had and their legs were working as strong as they could.

On the other end of the field, Sarabi made a nod towards Subira and her group as they too rushed out of their hiding position going into the buffalo's direction. The prey made a turn as he darted off into the left. Yet Subira didn't panic, it was just the direction they wanted their victim to go. Subira noticed the river bed getting closer and closer.

That was when Sarafina tilted her head to her daughter. "Are you ready?" She asked calmly.

"I was born ready!" Nala answered with her voice showing all her determination and will power.

All three lionesses waited until the buffalo stood at the edge of the river before they jumped up throwing their jaws at the animals' neck. Sarafina came from the right trying to bite down on the side of the animal. But just in the right moment, she got hit by the buffalo's horns and she sailed through the air to the ground. As she hit the dry earth, Sarafina could feel her left front foot make a nasty sound and she immediately collapsed back down. Nala caught their victim from beneath and sank her teeth into its neck. Yet she couldn't hold on and fell back off herself.

The buffalo had now shook off every one of the attacking lionesses and ran further away into the distance. That left Nala frustrated on the ground as she tilted her head to see how the others were doing. Her eyes immediately fell on her mother who was aching in pain. The cream adolescent lioness didn't waste any second and ran over to her as panic ran through her veins. "Mom! You alright?" She gasped as she finally reached Sarafina.

"Yes! Yes I'm okay." Sarafina mumbled as she tried to get back to her feet. Yet as she put some pressure on her left front paw, she cried out a little as an uncomfortable pain struck through her body. "Ow… ah… I think I twisted my ankle there." Sarafina then said while Nala moved her body closer to her to give her mother some sort of lean on.

"Well, in that condition you won't be able to help us." Himaya remarked.

Sarafina let out a frustrated gasp before she answered. "I think so… it might be the best idea to get back home and have Rafiki take a look at it." The older cream lioness muttered and limped a few steps.

Right in that moment, Sarabi and Subira came up to her with the same concerned looks on their faces like her daughter. "Is it bad?" the former queen asked coming to a halt right in front of her.

"No, no I can walk!"

"Should I come with you? I mean if you need me." It came out from Nala who still had her body leaned on her mothers' to support her.

Sarabi glanced into the distance towards the direction where the buffalo had gone. "If we keep moving we can catch up to it again. Nala! Make sure that Sarafina gets back home safely. The rest will follow me!"

At once, Sarafina moved away from Nalas support as she nudged her with her muzzle on the side of her head. "No need to honey. I can do it myself." She smiled forced. "I made it through far longer distances in far worse conditions than this." Nala and Sarabi smirked before the adolescent female nuzzled her mother. Carefully to not put any unnecessary pressure on her ankle, the cream furred lioness left the group in the direction of pride rock.

"Alright! Tama will take Sarafinas spot in the jumping team. We use the river bed to keep a low profile and catch the buffalo off-guard." The beige lioness then commanded which was answered with approving nods from the rest of the pride. Quickly they moved out to continue their hunt.

"Patrol? He let us go out here and do a simple patrol!" Chumvi said angrily as he hit a little stone with his right front paw and send it flying away. He and his other two friends had been wandering through the eastern valleys for more than an hour now. The lands here looked even more dry and deserted than in the rest of the kingdom. All that was left was grey rock and brown earth with no sign of grass anywhere to be seen.

"Jeez Chumvi! I always thought that patrols were one of those things you would look forward to." Tojo answered smirking as he walked to his dark brown friends' right. Patrols were indeed duties which young males were assigned to when the right time had come. And yes, Chumvi was looking forward to it. The idea was that there was at least some sort of warning if any kind of danger was ahead. Due to the gophers that were wandering around the underground, messages could be send far into the pride lands within short times. But ever since the pride lands had become this wasteland, there was no need for patrols. Nothing was about to endanger the kingdom. It had just become so deserted that nobody cared about it anymore.

"I did! Gosh… it almost feels like we're being punished. Yet I have no clue for what!" Chumvi answered kicking another stone away. Right now, the trio had made their way up to a small gorge that lay just beside a hill to their right. It wasn't really that deep, yet falling down into it could cause some serious injuries.

Malka had kept pretty quiet until now as his mind was running extra miles. "What advantage could it bring to Scar that we are far off chasing ghosts around the eastern valleys?" he thought out loud causing his friends to glance at him confused. "And why today, why now? With all the lionesses being out there, it would leave pride rock completely unguarded." He pondered as he stroke his mane.

"Maybe he wants you away from his place!"

All three of them switched their heads around to find a single male hyena standing right in front of them. He had a smirking grin on his face which almost felt taunting to them. His stance was confident and his eyes were full of fire. Chumvi, Malka and Tojo eyed him with challenging looks while walking a few steps forward. "Excuse me; I seem to have problem with keeping all your names. Who are you?" Malka asked provocative as he pulled his left paw to his chest in an excusing way.

"The better question is… what do you want and what do you mean?" Tojo added coming right at the side of his pale orange friend.

"I'm just a nice trespasser who seeks for the wonderful in live!" The hyena countered.

Tojo and Malka exchanged questioning faces while Chumvi rubbed his forehead. "Okay! That's a new one! Does anybody have an idea what he said?" The dark brown cub directed sarcastically at his friends. Yet the hyena kept moving forward, the fact that he was facing three male lions which all thought that he was an invader in their home didn't even scare him one bit.

Tojo at once held out a paw to order him to stay away from them. "You better get back to your clan if you know what's good for you." He said with a warning sound. But the hyena kept coming. "I said back off!" Tojo added as the stranger was only inches away from his face.

"Come on buddy! Don't you want to strike me if I don't move? I bet that's what you want to do with everyone of my kind. So why not start now." He challenged the ochre furred lion and stretched out his tongue in bloodlust.

If it wouldn't have been for Chumvi, Tojo had smacked the provocateur right on the spot. But the dark brown cub held on to his friends' paw to stop him. "Scar made them pridelanders, and the law says that when you put hand on a pridelander in cold blood, you can be banished." He said calmly into Tojos ear.

The adolescent ochre lion breathed a few times heavy and turned his face away from the stranger. "Yeah, better not risk anything." He muttered in defeat.

"That's right! Go back to your mothers and cry yourself to sleep." The hyena again yelled almost wanting to get beaten up. And then…

WHOM!

Malka had pushed the hyena with his front legs as hard as he could. Right away the hyena tumbled backwards losing nearly all of his balance. With waiving front legs, he tumbled to the edge of the gorge before falling all the way down it. Tojos and Chumvis eyes widened in shock as they saw the grey animal going over the edge and falling down to the ground. They immediately rushed over to see what happened to him. And there he lay, with his eyes wide open and his neck in an awkward position. All three adolescent lions looked at each other as they couldn't realize what just had happened.

"What have you done?" They heard another voice behind them and once again turned around. There they found Zira with another bunch of hyenas' right behind her. "You… you killed him!" She gasped her voice stern and yet a bit shocked.

Malkas mouth dropped as he right away realized where this was going. "No… no I didn't, it… it was an accident."

But Ziras yellow eyes were now full of hate and determination. "I saw you push him over the edge, and that only because he said something about your mother." The nearly fifteen hyenas strong group behind her went fourth and lined up around the tarnish lioness. "You know what the punishment for this crime is?" She then said cold.

At once, Tojo and Chumvi stood right beside their friend as the raised their paws in defense. "No, you have to understand. He… he provoked it. You can't honestly banish me for this." Malka remarked yet slowly getting ready to defend himself.

"As second ruler of the pride lands, it is my duty to make sure its laws are kept and executed. A law that has been given over from king to king and that not even you can avoid to obey." She said and as a nasty smirk appeared on her face. "I hereby banish you from the pride lands." Zira almost laughed as Malkas, Chumvis and Tojos faces lit up with fear, horror and anger.

"First, you have to go through us!" Tojo yelled and stepped right in front of his pale orange friend.

"With pleasure!"

With that, the hyenas darted forward attacking the three lions. Tojo right away struck one of them across the face and send the hyena falling to the ground. Chumvi grabbed one of them by the neck and threw it directly into two other hyenas charging at him. "Now I know why Scar wanted us out here." He said while throwing paws and bites at the grey attackers.

Malka had one hyena pinned to the ground and growled viciously. "We better get back home! LET'S LOSE THESE BOZOS!" The three adolescent lions ran off into the distance as the hyenas gave chase.

Back at the scene, Zira walked up to the edge of the gorge and glanced down at the dead hyena. That is "believed to be dead" hyena. Suddenly, the animal tilted his head up and smirked up at the tarnish lioness. "And… how was I?"

"Excellent Hank! Excellent!"

* * *

><p>Miles away from the scene including Chumvi, Tojo and Malka, the scarred lion Mwehu walked side by side to yet another dried out river. With the king wanting him to be dead, he needed time to reconfigure his strategy. Wherever the pale cream lion was going now, he had to expect one of Scars minions to jump on him. And like he said before, since he had to face them anyway it was going to happen when and how he wanted.<p>

The landscape showed a slope to the left as he had to wander down into the river bed. Since the path aside the river was to small to have him walk across it. When it came to the bottom line, Mwehu had to admit that he kinda felt attached to this place. And he hated to feel warm about something, even over the last months as he kinda got along with the rest of the lions, he still wanted a live on his own being free from any connection and attachments to the world.

Upwards, Mwehu could hear rumbling and his ears perked up in attention. "What the hell…?" His eyes widened as he looked up and saw a tree trunk rolling down the slide right into his direction. "OH NO!" Mwehu stuttered and rolled to the side. The trunk missed him only by an inch, crushing into thousand pieces as he protected his face.

"Hyenas! OW!" He had barely spoken out the work as numerous paws and claws connected with his head and made him yell out in pain. _So much for 'on my turns'!_

As the male lion looked up, he directly glanced up into the eyes of Baghami. The hyenas smirked evil at him while Bozi and another hyena pressed their paws on his back. "I bring a message form Scar my dear trouble seeking friend." Baghami smacked Mwehu across his face. "He wants to let you know that you are now officially banished from the pride lands." Another paw connected with the scarred lions head. "But you don't have to worry about finding a new home. For where you're going, you won't need any shelter." Baghami bared his teeth preparing to bite down on Mwehus neck. "Any last word?"

Mwehu spat some blood on the ground before he turned his head to the still triumphant looking hyena. "Just one!... thanks!" With that he brought his head up and hit Baghami onto his chin. With quick moves, he got loose of the two as he used his right hind leg to hit a hyena on the temple knocking it out completely. Another hyena jumped at him and tried to bite down on his neck. Mwehu grabbed him quickly and flipped the attacker over. The hyena didn't realize what happened as the pale cream lion already held on to his neck and breaking it at an instant.

Right then Baghami got back to his feet and saw what Mwehu had done to the other two hyenas he and his friends had hired earlier. Tobwe and Bozi were right beside as they all glanced up to the now bloodthirsty looking lion.

"I don't know about you… but I'm ready to go!"

* * *

><p>Back at pride rock, the only lions that had been left were Meethu and Sabini. Both of them were not old enough to hunt or go protect the border of the kingdom which had them often stick together. And since the two were the only ones at their age, they really grew a connection. The cream furred male and the pale golden female had settled down just beneath the huge ledge that emerged from the giant rock formation. With their heads directed to the sky.<p>

"Man! This is so boring! Why isn't anything exciting going to happen?" Sabini said as she yawned and rubbed her back on a small stone.

Right beside her, Meethu lifted his paw into the air. "Yeah! Without Nala, Malka and the others this place is as wasted and deserted than the rest of the pride lands." His eyes closed in boredom and he got ready to take a quick nap.

"I know someone who can change that!" A voice interrupted the two as they saw another bunch of hyenas coming right up to them. Their yellow eyes were nasty and their body language was showing hostile intentions.

Meethu right away went to his feet and got into a protective stance in front of Sabini. The barely a year old lion growled at the aggressors. "You better get moving pals if you don't want to get into a fight with the whole pride." He snarled challenging trying to show no sign of fear at all. Yet the hyenas showed no sign themselves of stepping back.

"Oh I don't see anyone here except you two… and us!" The leader of the bunch said out loud as the ring around the two lions closed in.

Meethu on the other hand, stared to the ground while he moved his paw over the dusty earth. "Well in that case!" WHAM! With a quick move, the cream lion blew a paw full of dust into three hyenas faces before charging at the small opening that had built up. He felt Sabini being right behind him as they ran through the gap. "Quick… find the lionesses and inform them what is going on!" Sabini just nodded at her friend and darted off to the side.

"Oh no you don't!" Another hyena said and smacked her across the head knocking her out cold.

Seeing as his friend was lying unconscious on the ground, Meethus eyes filled with horror. Yet he had no time to go back and check on them. He had to get out of there. _Thank the great kings; they are not interested in her!_ He sighed relieved as the hyenas somehow lost their interest in his female friend. The male lion rushed around a corner, but only to find himself staring at another group of hyenas blocking his path.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty!" A female said mocking as the circle on Meethu again closed.

Yet suddenly, one of the grey animals got knocked out by a cream colored figure that jumped right in front of the male lion. As Meethu looked up, he saw his mother growling viciously at the aggressors. "Leave my son alone!" Sarafina said but still only was able to stand on three of her paws.

* * *

><p>Tojo swung his right paw at one of their 'execution commando' knocking the animal over to the side. He had barely a second to recover as he got attacked from behind and yelled out in pain. One of the hyenas had its teeth rammed into his fur. He had a real hard time to get it off. Just out of the sudden Malka came over to him and sank HIS teeth into the hyena to make IT yell out in pain. The animal let go of Tojo and Malka tossed it through the air as it landed just in one of its companions.<p>

"Come on you two! Until we get back home, we're basically sitting ducks here!" Chumvi called as he fought off two hyenas at the same time. Out here at the border of the pride lands, there was no chance of them getting any help from their pride members. And since Zira basically threw them out, they needed all the help they could get.

The trio ran through the veldt with the group of grey animals giving chase. Once in a while they stopped to swing their paws at their enemies to bring some distance between them. Right now, Malka used his left hind leg to kick a hyena directly on the jaw and knocking it out. Chumvi had grasped one by the leg and swung it back into the direction of their persuaders.

"You know! Once we get to pride rock, not only do we have to fight these guys… but the rest of the clan too." Tojo mumbled under heavy breaths to his dark brown friends as the three had gone into a sprint.

Chumvi replied nothing and kept running. _Banished! Can she do that? Can Zira just banish three members of the pride for accidently killing an animal that provoked them? We didn't do anything wrong._ Doubts were filling his heart, and his mind wandered off to Kula. _If this is really going to happen, how will she react? How will the rest of the pride react? Did Scar have his paws in this?_

Malka on the other hand was thinking at other tasks ahead. _Oh they will pay, each and every one of them will pay!_ He quickly jumped over a small rock and came right to a halt as he landed. The pale orange lion swung his right paw as it connected with the feet of a hyena that jumped right over the rock. Without the stability of his legs, the grey animal sailed through the air and landed hard on his neck being out cold.

Pride rock was only a few miles away as the trio fought their way through the savannah back to their home. As another pair of hyenas ran right in front of them and blocked their path. Tojo realized what was going on. _This is a trap; I bet that Scar arranged this to get us out of this kingdom. _He dodged another attack from the left and rammed his hip into one of their attackers.

If he didn't know better, Chumvi swore he could hear growls and yells coming from the huge rock formation barely a mile in the distance. He avoided another attacker who passed him by only inches and collided with one of his hyena friends. "We better get up there. I have a bad feeling about the noises from up there.

* * *

><p>"I don't get it! How can we lose a single lion twice in just about two days?" Bozi yelled frustrated while he hammered his paw on the ground. He breathed heavily from all the running and fighting they had done previously.<p>

Right beside him, Tobwe had collapsed to the ground coughing and gasping for air. "I- I-have… I have no idea!" He answered before pulling himself back to his feet. Just a few minutes ago, the three hyenas were all over the pale cream furred lion and had him just at the edge of a loss. He quickly deked them before disappearing around a rock and having completely vanished.

"Keep searching, he can't just vanish in the daylight in this barren wasteland." Baghami then called while he kept his head up and his eyes searching over the field. This whole situation of bringing down the scarred lion was definitely not worth the pain and the losses they would have to endure for the rest of the day. And yet there was no sign of their target.

_AH… this really hurts. If I don't get loose of these guys, I can go find a nice grave to lie into. _Mwehu thought as he leaned himself against a boulder being completely out of sight from his attackers. But even though he needed a short moment to catch his breath and to summon some left energy, he still didn't want to waste any time to engage in another battle with his three enemies. Then something happened that made his eyes lit up with, dare he say it, joy! The three hyenas were splitting up and went separated ways. _This is perfect! I can't believe those guys are actually that stupid._ He had to think quickly for his first target.

His eyes fell on Tobwe who was supposed to be tracker of the trio. He smoothly moved around the boulder as he carefully observed the grey animals sniffing the ground. A quick twist of his head made him see that the other two had completely gone out of sight and Tobwe was on his own. The scarred lion moved forward as silent as possible with him only being a few yards away. Tobwe still had his head directed to the ground as he seemed to have no idea what was going on behind him.

Suddenly, the sniffing hyena could hear heavy breathing behind him and jerked his head up in shock as he realized. "Got you!" It was all he heard before the sharp teeth of Mwehu drilled down into his neck as he was completely caught in the lions grasp. Mwehu rolled his body around which forced the hyena to move in an awkward way as the lion broke his victims' neck. Mwehu felt the animal under him going limb and he quickly released him. "One down! Two to… OWW!" he gasped as he got grabbed from behind. Claws were running all over his body and cut deep into his flesh.

As he glanced up he saw into the hateful filled eyes of Baghami who was shaking in anger. "You, you killed my friend!" he muttered as he slashed the pale cream lion across the face.

Mwehu once again yelled out in pain but kept showingno sign of fear of death or doubt of his strength. "I told you! Your species lives dangerous." He snarled and wasted not time to make his move. Within seconds, he had freed himself from Bozis grasp and was now standing tall over him. Baghami tried to jump him from behind but received a paw to his chin. The scarred lion then bared his teeth as Bozi got to his feet. With one move, the lion bit down on the hyenas' leg and cut right through the bone letting Bozi howl out in pain.

As the hurt animal desperately tried to crawl away from the now completely bloodthirsty lion, he glanced over to his friend Tobwe who lay there with his eyes wide open but showing no sign of life. All he could think about in that moment was how he could possibly beg for mercy. Yet all this vanished as he saw in the eyes of the scarred lion, they had turned completely insane.

And Mwehu didn't even waste a second for doubt to come into his mind as he rammed his right hind leg into the hyenas back cracking through the spinal column. Bozi screamed out fiercely but sank together immediately having all the life vanquished from his body. The scarred lions then faced the now completely frightened Baghami who stared at his two friends in horror.

"You! What kind of devil are you?" He stuttered having trouble to bring out any words.

But Mwehu didn't respond as he gave chase to the fleeing hyena.

* * *

><p>The rest of the hunt went just as unsuccessful as the first part. Even though the lionesses had the buffalo cornered for two times more, the black furred animal always managed to shake them of and get away. Evening was already luring over the kingdom and the pride finally decided to call the hunt off and head back home. Right away, Nala was the one who went ahead in a much higher pace. She wanted to get back to her mother as quickly as possible. Feelings of guilt ran through her mind. <em>Maybe it was because I couldn't bring him down right away. If I would have been more determined, nothing would have happened.<em>

Right beside her were Tama and Kula who tried to keep up with their friend. "NALA! Wait up!" The caramel lioness called out going into a jog.

"I don't have time. I need to check on my mother as quickly as possible." Nala replied without wasting time to look back at her friends.

"Come on, she just hurt her ankle. I'm sure it's not that bad anyway!" Tama remarked trying to calm her down.

"NO! It was my fault that she got hurt. So it's my duty to make sure she gets fine."

Both her lioness friends stopped on the spot at the sudden outburst from the cream furred female. "You can't be serious! What makes you think that it is you who is responsible?"

Now Nala stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to face Kula and Tama. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and regret as her ears leaned on her head. "If I would have reacted faster, if I would have been more serious about my actions, I could have brought the animal all down by myself. And then it wouldn't have rammed mom and she wouldn't got injured."

Kula walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her. "Hey… come on. You have no control of who is getting hurt in a hunt and who doesn't. Besides, we're talking about a 700pds heavy buffalo been taken on by an adolescent lioness. What chance does someone like you have to bring this monster down all by herself? There is so much going on, in no way you could have prevented these things from happening."

The cream colored lioness faced he ground and breathed slowly. "Guess you're right! Thanks Kula!" Kula smiled softly.

"Don't mention it. What are friends for anyway?"

The fresh piece yet was interrupted by a loud roar filling the evening night and made all three lionesses tilt their heads up and their faces fill with shock. "MOM!" Nala yelled out and wasted no time before running towards pride rock. Kula and Tama glanced after her as they could hear growls and scrams hailing over from their home. They both darted after her but quickly got interrupted by loud noises emerging from their left. Seconds later, a pale cream and grey colored figure crashed through a dried up bush and landed right in front of the two females.

"WHAT? MWEHU!" Tama yelled as she recognized the scarred lion who pinned the smaller hyena Baghami to the ground. "What's going on here?" The tarnish/orange lioness gasped shocked.

Mwehus body was bruised up as claw and jaw marks were spread all over his coat. His breath was heavy and his eyes were blazing with tiredness and anger. "Let's just say that HE wanted to play in the big league and got served." He growled giving no reaction to the two other lions t the scene.

Now, Kula and Tama realized who Mwehu brought down right in front of them. It was the same hyena that wanted to drive them off the waterhole back when they had been cubs. "What are you going to do to him?" Kula asked hesitating as she didn't really wanted to know every detail.

"Well… the pride lands seem to be rather crowded over the last time. I think I'm going to create a bit more space around here." His voice was sinister and cold. The scarred lion faced the completely frightened hyena with fury. Baghami was so scared that he wasn't even able to say a single word.

"Okay calm down Mwehu! I bet there are better ways out of this than by slaughtering hyenas." Kula replied and raised her paws in a calming motion.

But the pale cream male stared at the grey animal underneath him before shaking his head. "Ah- I don't think so. You see… this fellow was pretty clear when he talked about me getting extinguished from this world."

The caramel female stepped back and forth nervously. Her mind drifted off to pride rock and what Nala was going through right now. They had to get back there to see what was going on there. Yet they would probably need the scarred lion and couldn't risk of him killing hyenas in cold blood. "Think about it! Scar made all the hyenas pridelanders. If you do kill him, you'll get banished from here. Do you want that?"

The hyena under Mwehu saw his final chance to find a way out of his misery. "Yeah… yeah… listen to her. I mean… do you really want to have this blood of your hands? Do you really want to be forced to be thrown out there in the desert or the shadow lands? You better listen to her." Baghami stuttered unsure if any of his remarks would have an effect.

"Think about it! This has been your home too!" Tama tried once more to talk some sense into the pale cream male.

Now Mwehu eyed his supposedly victim and snarled. "What do you think? Should I be merciful and let her talk me out of this?" Baghami nodded quickly. Mwehu then eyed Kula and Tama before facing the hyena again. "Well… in order for me to obey pride land laws, and to take advice from little miss sunshine over there. I would be supposed to actually give a damn." Baghamis eyes widened in horror as Mwehu grabbed his neck and broke it.

Kula and Tama looked away as the male lion knocked the life out of the hyena. They padded over to him as he glanced down to the last member of his hunters with tired eyes. The caramel put a paw on his shoulder but got denied immediately. Mwehu glanced away. "You know, we could really use you as a friend." Tama said out as she tilted her head.

"Save it. I already killed four of them miles away. Every hyena of the kingdom would be after me anyway." He eyed them tired and aching in pain. "Well… better get going!" He didn't even bother to look back at the life he left back in the pride lands. That was all over for him now.

* * *

><p>By the time Nala reached pride rock, she was completely out of breath. They day had left its tributes on her. Her lungs were burning and her head hurt form all the hunting, shouting and running. But she had to get to her mother. She could hear her screams that indicated some sort of pain. As fast as she could, she ran up the path that led to the plateau right in front of the giant rock. "MOM! What is…" She started but immediately stopped as she saw what was going on.<p>

Her mother was standing protectively in front of Meethu and snarled at the bunch of hyenas that were slowly walking towards her. The older lioness was breathing heavily as every inch of her body gave away the exhaustion she had to suffer from. She still wasn't able to walk on all of her feet which made her even more vulnerable.

Nala didn't wait any second and roared moving herself directly beside Sarafina. "What's going here?" She asked angry and kept growling at the hyenas.

"They want to kill Meethu! I don't know what has gotten into them." She said exhausted but kept throwing darts over to the grey animals. "You hear that! I won't let you get to him." Behind the two females stood Meethu who himself had his teeth bared and ready to defend his family.

"Count on me!" Sarafinas daughter said and made a step forward.

At once, the hyenas attacked the cream furred lions ready to run through everything and everyone that stood in their path. Nala right away smacked on hyena across the face before hitting the next one on the shoulder cutting it open immediately. Sarafina for her part hit one of the attackers with her head before sweeping another with her hind leg. Both lionesses were excellent fighters, and they needed every part of that talent in that moment.

Yet the waves of attackers kept coming and Sarafina soon found herself getting overmatched more and more. Her children tried to compensate that but soon were over powered by the sheer mass of attackers. One hyena bit down on Sarafinas hurt paw and made her scream out in immense pain. The cream lioness collapsed to the ground as Nala and Meethu rushed over to her at once. One hyena hit Nala on the back of the head and made her fall to the grown.

And as Sarafina looked, all she could see was the triumphant smirk of a male hyena that raised her paw to finish her.

"ROAR!"

Another lion sound came from the distance and the three males Chumvi, Tojo and Malka came running up to the plateau while being also chased by the grey animals. The ochre furred lion Tojo at once ran over to Nala and slashed at one hyena. Seeing as the whole scenery had changed due to the arrival of the males. The hyenas concentrated their attack on the three newcomers. Tojo however, nudged the female on the head checking out if she was okay. But the ochre lion didn't even have to ask she quickly got to her feet. "I'm fine!" She said determined and walked back to her mother.

"ENOUGH!" It hailed from Scar as he walked up to the plateau. His gaze was stern kept locked on the cream female lying on the ground. The king quickly walked over to her as his face showed a strange sign of concern. He laid his paw on her head and made her face him. Yet she showed all of her disgust and despise she held for him and twisted her head away immediately. The red/brown ion then glanced at the hyena that wanted to attack Sarafina and eyed him with cold eyes.

_WHAM!_

Scar struck with the backside of his paw across the animals face as he dropped to the ground unconscious. "What happened out here?" he then asked into the round as nearly all of the lions and hyenas were standing silent on their spots. By this time, Sarabi and the other lionesses joined the gathering as they two had their faces lit up with anger and worry.

"I can tell you what's going on. You made your little army go wild and attack us. Even though you promised that neither hyena nor lions would charge an attack on the other kind." Tojo called out to the king furiously as he stepped forward. Scar raised his eyebrows yet showed no emotion towards the younger male.

Suddenly Zira stepped beside the king and glared nasty at Tojo. "I saw it all; these three had committed serious crimes against the laws of the pride lands." She snarled as he gave Tojo a triumphant smirk. The lion in the background gasped as the hyenas set on mocking faces. "I saw Malka here pushing Hank over the edge of a gorge as he fell into his doom. They're _murderers! _They have to be banished."

Again the pride land gasped as they heard what the tarnish lioness was spelling out. Kula searched for desperation for Chumvis eyes to meet hers. He quickly formed a word with his mouth as if to say 'don't worry'! Yet Nala and the others felt their hearts drop to the kneecaps. Sabini and Nafsi were right beside each other giving Zira angry glares. Sarafina got back to her feet and limbed over to her pride members.

"NO! We didn't. First of all, it was an accident. Second, this was all a setup for our king to get us out of the way. What Zira tells is a lie." Malka yelled forth walking right in front of the rest of the pride.

Scar locked his green eyes on the male and snarled. "You accuse me of a systematic destruction of my kingdom. You dare to call my right hand a liar. Who do you think you are?"

Right away, Sarabi walked beside Malka and gave him a supporting pad on to shoulder. "I got informed by Kula and Tama that another group of hyenas tried to kill the young Mwehu out there in the fields. He managed to fight them off. Do you have an explanation for this _coincident_?" The former queen asked in her typical calm voice. She was not going to let her pride be weakened by that.

Yet the king kept his calm and never let his eyes off from Malka. "Since Mwehu is not officially a pridelander. I can't take charges against my hyenas for attacking him." Tama and Kula exchanged glances that told 'those hyenas are not going to talk anymore'. "But here; not only do we have a bunch of murderers in our ranks, yet we have some young lions that accuse their KING of misuse of his power." His voice was booming and all lionesses and lions realized where this was going. "And so I sentence you guilty of murder and treason against the royalty. You three are banished from this kingdom and shall never return."

Kulas face completely dropped hearing what the king was about to do to their pride. On the other side was Malka who was not going to give up just yet. "Well we're going nowhere. If you want us to leave, you have to walk over us." The pale orange lion said going into a crouching position.

Within seconds, Tojo was right beside him and growled at their king. "We're not leaving our pride behind. You have to drag us out of here by force." He remarked giving everyone of the hyenas a determined glance. His eyes wandered off to Nala and it really encouraged him as he saw his friend being ready to stand her ground with them.

While the other two lions stared at their king being able to give everything they had for their pride, Chumvi waived his gaze back and forth to every part of his family and pride. They all looked torn up and tired. His eyes then locked on Kula who, even though she was ready to do everything to protect her family, couldn't hide some fear of what was going to happen to him and his male friends. The dark brown male shook his head facing the ground in defeat. "Tojo! Let's go!"

Immediately, his ochre friend twisted his head to glance at Chumvi with fury. "WHAT!"

"Let's just get out of here." Chumvi muttered defeated. Both his friends couldn't believe their eyes when he turned away from the hyenas, Scar and Zira. The dark brown cub walked over to Sarabi as they looked deep into each other's eyes. And then he buried his head into her shoulder. Never in his life did the dark brown lion feel that depressed as when he searched the comfort of his queen.

Malka was about to walk over to his friend to knock some sense into him when he spotted Nala giving him a wink. Her head nodded as if to say. _Don't do anything stupid right now!_ The ochre lion then padded back to Tojo who was still glaring at Scar with fire burning in his body. "Come Jo-jo!" He said almost whispering and dragged Tojo along.

The trio walked over to the pride who had stepped close together seeing as their male friends had given up the fight. Or at least Chumvi did so. Malka walked up to his mother who had tears in her eyes seeing as these was the last time she would ever see her son. Malka didn't even have to say anything before he, Nafsi and Sabini hugged each other. "It's gonna be alright!" The older lioness said nuzzling her son on the back of his neck. They let go of each other and the pale orange lion started to walk by every lioness and gave them a hug too.

Still being completely against the idea of this, Tojo did the same with his mom and the rest of the pride before coming to a halt in front of Nala. "So…!" he started but couldn't get his words into the right order.

"So…!" His female friend said in a warm tone.

There was so much that Tojo wanted to say in that moment. But neither of it seemed to fit. But then again, why hold anything back now. "Do you think we two… y'know… could have ever?" He started stumbling.

But Nala kept a warm and nice smile as she gave him a quick lick on the cheek. "I'm sorry Tojo. Maybe somehow in the future, but… there are still things that I need to get into order before I can address that." She answered knowing that she would break his heart. But there was nothing more important than the truth right now. And Tojo knew that there still was this shadow of his old golden furred buddy hanging over their group that had been present every day for nearly two years now.

While Tojo and Malka were giving their farewells, Chumvi had walked right up to his mother, Kula and her mother as his caramel friend was close to breaking down. She sobbed as tears rolled down her face which Chumvi had to lick off from her. Both older lionesses had stepped aside to give their children enough time for each other. Chumvi was nuzzling and licking Kula all over her face and neck to at least calm her down a little bit. The two didn't let go of each other for about two minutes until the dark brown male drew away. They didn't say a word as their faces talked for them instead.

Chumvi joined Malka and Tojo. And with a final evil glare at Scar, the trio started walking away from their home. Neither of the lionesses let their eyes off from them until they couldn't be seen anymore. By that time, the hyenas had already begun to go their separate ways and the pride was left alone on the plateau. While Nafsi and Kulas mother lead their children back to the den, Sarabi and Nala were standing right beside the still hurt and groaning Sarafina. They were joined by Tama and Meethu with the male yearling standing right beside his sister as she had laid her left front leg around his back.

"Can you stand up?" Sarabi asked gently nudging her best friend on the cheek.

The cream lioness gritted her teeth and moved body into a sitting position. "That will have to do for the moment!" She gasped breathing heavily.

Inside Nalas head, the wheels were turning as she tried to fight of the desperation she felt right now. What was she supposed to do? The hyenas would definitely try to do something like this again. And it was now obvious that there could be no help expected from their king. Not that she wanted to get his help anyway. Within one day, her life was completely ruined. Three of her best friends had just been driven away from them; her family was nearly wiped out by those stinky poachers. And there was no chance of the situation getting better in the next time. _There is no other choice! I need to do this in order to keep them alive._ Nala thought and directed her head to the sky.

"ZAZU, could you do me a favor?" She said softly at the blue hornbill who had kept himself in the background for the whole time.

"Whatever you need Nala!" He answered landing on her shoulder.

The adolescent cream lioness glanced after her mother who was limping back into the cave aside Sarabi with Meethu being close behind. "I need you to go out on a searching mission!"

Beside her, Tama moved her paw over her head to wipe away some more tears as she thought about what just had happened in front of her eyes. This was all going completely out of control. She sank together to the ground and sobbed while burying her head in her front legs. She couldn't even hear Nalas words she gave to Zazu a few feet away. Slowly, the tarnish/orange lioness raised her head and spotted Kula and her mother still standing at the mouth of the cave. The two lionesses were engaged in a tight embrace. But something was off. This wasn't the typical comforting embrace. It was encouraging…

"Nala… look!"

Yet her friend was still talking to Zazu and didn't realize Tama was talking to her. "You got it?" The cream furred lioness said to Zazu

"On my way!" he replied and set off into the air.

"Hey Nala… look at that!" Tama once again said as she signed her friend into the direction of the caramel lioness.

Kula smiled at her mother who put a paw on her shoulder before the adolescent animal started a short sprint into the direction Chumvi and the others had gone. Yet she stopped short after and glanced back at her two best friends. Her face was speaking all her thoughts and she didn't need to say more. Nala and Tama nodded their heads in approval before giving her a long goodbye smile.

With that, Kula ran down through the veldt with the determination to leave the pride lands together with her 'boyfriend'.

* * *

><p>After hours of running, Malka and Tojo and Chumvi finally reached the old mangrove tree which had been an important direction marker for all pridelanders. Neither Tojo nor Chumvi had spoken a word to each other since they had left pride rock. Tojo still didn't approve any part of the idea of leaving their families and pride members behind.<p>

"Well guys, here we are!" Malka finally said and broke the silence. "So what's it gonna be? Do we take the path to the desert and try to cross it? Are we going to live a new life in the shadowlands? Or somewhere else?" He asked looking up at the tree. "Though that is your decision to make, I'm not that good at directions!"

"Speaking of decisions, what was that all about Chumvi? What were you thinking giving in to Scar just like that?" Tojo yelled out giving air to all his emotions and anger he had built up for the time of their walk. The ochre cub walked forward and nearly snarled as he glanced at his dark brown friend.

Chumvi however, stayed calm. "What did you expect me to do? Take on Scar and his army like some sort of a hero." He replied sounding a bit defeated. Malka was a bit shocked at the sudden change in character that his friend showed out of the sudden.

"Hell yeah you should. Malka and I were ready to defend our pride, our kingdom, our FAMILY!" Tojo countered getting even angrier with his best friend.

Slowly and tired, the dark brown male sat down. "There was no chance of winning that fight. Didn't you see the looks of the lionesses? They were tired! They had been out there hunting for the whole day. Sarafina, Meethu and Nala were already injured. And the number of hyenas was countless times higher than ours. Even if we would have stand our ground and the lionesses had sided with us, the result would have been the same." As he said the last sentence, he stood up and walked up to Tojo his bigger figure standing over him.

Yet, Tojo was not able to be calmed down. "OH… so I see! The feeling of our friends and families suffering is more satisfying then giving up a huge chance for us to get rid of Scar and the hyenas. I must say, that was a really wise decision." The ochre lion mocked Chumvi and waived his paws through the air giving and grimaced over to him.

"And you think DYING is the better option. I wonder what Nala would have thought about you driving the whole pride into perish." Chumvi countered as the two were almost pressing their foreheads at each other.

"She wouldn't have thought of me as a coward, unlike Kula does with you." At once, the two lions were all over each other as they bit and clawed at each other. But Malka immediately went in between to separate them.

"Come on guys calm down. We need to stick together."

But then a paw hit Tojo across the left cheek and he fell to the ground yelling in pain. He countered with kicking Chumvi on the jaw with his left hind leg. Both lions were now on the ground and growled at each other while the pale orange male stood in between them preventing for them to attack again. They both realized now what was going on here, that their friendship was about to take a sinister turn.

"Do you really want it to end it like this Chumvi?" Tojo remarked facing the ground. "Chummy… we have been friends for over two years now. I know you even longer than Simba. Do you really want to have all this be destroyed in one night?" He asked as he sighed out all the frustration he felt.

Chumvi glanced at him with his warm brown eyes showing that he was sorry right away. "No! We'll always be friends, no matter what." He remarked and got to his feet in the same time as Tojo. Yet Malka immediately realized what his two buddies were getting at. He himself could never understand why such a small fight would have caused two live long friends to part immediately. "What is next?" The dark brown male then asked at his ochre companion.

Tojo thought for a moment before saying. "I just can't leave them back there knowing how they suffer every day. Yet I don't know what to do. I can't do that alone."

In that moment, Malka shook up as he spotted a figure in the distance running directly at them. "Guys! What is that?" He asked signing with his paw into the distance.

Chumvi turned around immediately not needing to think twice who was coming at them "KULA!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he started running at the caramel female. The two met halfway as Kula jumped directly at her friend and knocking him over. Both lions landed on the ground as Kula nuzzled Chumvi all over his head.

"I just can't be without you." She said pulling him closer to her. Chumvi didn't respond and just enjoyed her being with him again. It took them quite a while before they got back to their feet and padded over to Malka and Tojo. Both males smiled as they saw the young couple laughing and smiling in contrast to the horror from earlier.

"So you decided to leave." Malka remarked as he greeted Kula with a hug.

My mom told me that I would regret it for the rest of my life. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow… but one day I would regret it." She answered yet couldn't hide a little sadness thinking back to her family at pride rock. Again Malka and Tojo exchanged glances with Chumvi who just nodded in agreement. Kula caught it and her eyes widened in confusion. "What's going on?"

Chumvi put his front leg around her and started explaining. "We uhm… we decided to go separate ways." He said which made all the joy and hope Kula felt for a second disappear.

"But why? Why aren't we going together?" She nearly pleaded at the other two males in the round.

"You know! It probably is the best for you and Chumvi to start a life somewhere else. Your mom already said it. One day you would have regret staying. And I and Jo-jo still have something to take care of. We just need… time." Malka answered. He didn't have a better explanation himself but it seemed like a plausible choice.

Of course the caramel lioness didn't approve of that but seeing as the courses were already set, she didn't want to be the one in their way. "Then… that's it?" She sobbed almost crying again.

Tojo nuzzled her gently and smiled. "Just for now!"And just like a few hours ago at pride rock, the adolescent lions gave their farewell as Chumvi and Kula set for one and Malka and Tojo or the other way. That is, they would have done that if it wouldn't have been for another distraction coming their way…

"I hate these cuddly goodbye scenes!"

All of their head twisted around as they found Mwehu coming into view from a small eruption. The pale cream lion was still covered in dried out blood and the wound on his body were still shining red. His walk was weak and uneasy. Since Tojo, Chumvi and Malka had no idea what had happened to the scarred lion over the day. They looked surprised and stunned at the sight they saw.

"What happened to you?" Malka asked a bit concerned.

Kula was about to say something when she caught the lions expression which basically said. _'_Don't you dare' _Still that same proud and arrogant prick!_ She thought but didn't feel any kind of rejection to him.

Mwehu had reached the group and glanced through his half swelled eyes. "Well I got officially kicked out from this place." He said as if it was no big deal.

"Join the club!" Malka retorted offering him a paw which the pale cream lion rejected immediately.

"I don't like clubs. So… anyway! Moving out?"

Tojo glanced at him and couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah, I think Malka and I will go north. We got some unfinished business that needs to be taken care of." He said and slapped his paw in Malkas shoulder. "What about you?" He then faced Chumvi and Kula.

The two lovers glanced at each other before Kula answered. "I think we'll go west, my mom always told me about that small path between the shadow- and the outlands where you get to a huge rich and grassy kingdom. I think that might be a good idea?" He indirectly asked Kula while licking her on her forehead. Mwehu gave no reaction to their answers than a simple nod with his head before he started walk away.

"And what about you?" Kula called after the scarred lion that stopped in his tracks.

"Actually! I don't know! I just have to find out by following this small creek here." Mwehu answered without facing them. He pointed to what used to be a river bed and jumped right in it. He wasted no time and continued walking.

"HEY SCARFACE!" Tojo yelled and _that_ made him turn around. "TAKE CARE!"

For the first time in his life, Mwehu gave the group of lions, which he teased and got in trouble with all the time, a real and honest smile. "STAY OUT OF TROUBLE… _BIRD-BOY_!" The others turned their faces away from him as they suddenly heard the scarred lion singing.

"I'm forever blowing bubbles- Pretty bubbles in the fly so high, they reach the sky- And like my dreams they fade and die. Fortunes always hiding- I've looked everywhere. I'm forever blowing bubbles- pretty bubbles in the air."

The lions all frowned and raised their eyebrows as Mwehu vanished in the distance.

* * *

><p><span>Author's note:<span> The song Mwehu was singing is from the movie "Green street hooligans" with Elijah Wood, really good movie. Also there is a quick note from "Casablanca" in this.


	12. The king and I

Hey there!

Here we go with Chapter 12: I guess those of you who read fics regularly on this site know what today's twist is going to be.

**RELDOR****: **Once again, thanks a lot.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 12: the king and I<span>

_Two months later! _

It took Nala weeks to not wake up with wet eyes from crying tears during sleep. All of them were gone; first Simba and Mufasa, then Ni, Chumvi, Tojo, Malka, Kula… and finally Meethu and her mother. The only one left was Tama. Of course there were Sarabi and the other members of the pride. But the loneliness she felt right now, was basically unbearable. She rested her head on her front paws as her mind drifted back to her mother and her brother.

_Nearly a week had passed since the incident between the lions and the hyenas. Nala had to watch all her childhood friends being banished from their home as Scar strengthened his position as the prime ruler of the pride lands. Sarafina was finally able to walk on all four of her paws again._ _Yet she was still unstable in her walk so her children had to support her. Together, the family walked through the dry landscape of their kingdom. Even though the night was clear, no stars could be seen on the sky. The dust that emerged from the ground was so thick that the pride lands were filled with this grey light. While the three lions walked on the ground, it was Zazu that flew just a few yards over them._

"_How long until the meeting point?" The young cream lioness asked the major-domo from underneath with her eyes being stern and anxious. _

_Zazu dropped a few inches until he was on the same level as Nala. "It's over there, just around that boulder." He answered before he received and approving nod._

_Nala picked up her pace and walked a few meters ahead as she wanted to get to their destination fist. The cream lioness glanced around the corner and her eyes right away fell on a figure moving in the dark. Her ears perked up in alert but relaxed as she recognized who was standing in front of her. _

"_Hello flaky! You have really grown."_

_It was definitely him. Nala smiled warm as she padded over to who was as close to being her father as possible. Ni returned her smile and nuzzled her gently. Right then, Meethu and Sarafina came into view and the males eyes drifted off to the newcomers. He already heard of the incident happening at pride rock and what happened to Sarafina that day. "Hey Sara!" He greeted the older female and padded over to her before licking her on her forehead. The two spent quite a while together in their position until they finally broke apart. Nis eyes then met the last member of the trio and his eyes filled with pride. "Hello!"_

_For the whole time, Meethu was as nervous as lion could be. When Nala told him and his mother about meeting his father, he couldn't help but feel extremely uneasy. His father had to leave the pride lands before he was born. What was the right thing to say in this situation? What was the right reaction for meeting the male that was his father? He didn't know. And the only thing, Meethu did was standing in the back and face the ground. _

"_Well! Are you going to just stand there and stare holes in the floor? Or are you going to say hello?" Ni remarked smiling._

_Meethu then felt a head hitting him in the back as his mother tried to shove the adolescent male closer to the full grown pale cream lion. At first he rejected but then gave in and padded over. Their eyes met for a second and then Meethu looked away again. His father countered with a smile and brought his right front paw to his chin before lifting it up. _

"_Guess I have to do the first step. My name is Ni. You must be Meethu?" He said soft as he offered a smile. It took a while before his son replied with a smile of his own. But as he did, the world lit up for a short moment. Meethu flung himself at Ni and hugged him tightly as he nuzzled him. Nala and Sarafina smiled seeing how their family was finally reunited again._

Once again, Nalas eyes filled with tears as she remembered one of the happiest moments, yet one of the saddest in her life.

_The four had settled down right at the border of the pride lands under a tree that was surprisingly blooming and still had its leaves. Since they hadn't seen each other for such a long time, they had a lot to talk about. Sarafina had snuggled up to the older male while their children were lying just oppose them. "That scumbag! I should go back there and end his reign at once." Ni said as he slammed his paw at the tree trunk._

"_That's not what I've asked you for." Nala said calming. "I asked you to take care of them until this crisis is over. If it wouldn't have been for her little accident and the others getting back to pride rock in time, Meethu would have been dead. I just can't take him being in danger anymore. That's why I send Zazu to find you guys." She said nodding her head at Zazu and Kicho who sat on a tree branch just above them. "I fear if my mother and Meethu are staying in the pride lands, something really serious is going to happen to them. For now I just want them to be safe." Ni nodded in realization as he wrapped his arm around his mates shoulder. _

_They set there for nearly the whole night until it was finally time for them to depart. Nala nuzzled her brother and mother tightly before walking back into the depths of the pride lands. As she got smaller and smaller in the distance, Ni and Sarafina couldn't decide whether they should cry or smile. "I can't believe she turned three just a few days ago. She would have made a great queen." The male said and faced the lioness. "Do you think she will pull through?"_

_Sarafina nuzzled him on the side smiling. "She is strong and intelligent; if I can make it through all of this… she can do it with ease."_

When Nala arrived back at pride rock the next morning she had been welcomed by a not so nice welcoming.

"Where have you been?" Scar said booming as he growled angrily at Nala. The cream furred lioness had not been back for fifteen minutes as the king alongside Zira, Banzai, Shenzi and Ed came trotting into her direction baring his teeth. "Where are your mother and your brother?" He then continued to ask as he got face to face with her.

Nala frowned showing no sign of intimidation. "They're gone. And last time I checked. I don't have to report to you of where I'm going." She answered dry. Her eyes wandered over to Zira who threw needles at her with her eyes.

"You're just a feisty as your mother. Remember who you're talking to." The tarnish lioness then intervened and started circling the younger lioness. "We can't allow every member of the pride lands to just leave and let the home land abandoned." Her voice was slimy and her grin was completely faked.

"A trend that our king has started in the first place." Nala answered dry. "Scar! You're the king; it is your duty to look after the pride and the kingdom. Look at this place, there's barely even anything left for us to feed from. You have the power to make this right. Think about it!" Something told her that it might be a good idea to appeal on Scars mind and heart, if there was a heart left anyway.

But the king just stared at her… weird! "Oh I know of my duty as king and looking out for my pride. And as the ruler of the pride lands, I hereby declare that none of you lionesses are allowed to wander off on her own without a hyena to guard you. Understood?" Scars voice was just as mocking as it could get. He eyed the young lioness that never let her aqua eyes off the king.

Yet she knew that there was nothing to gain here anyway. "Understood… your _highness_!" Without saying another word, Nala walked out of the den with her head hung high.

Scar himself observed her carefully, memorizing every part of her body. "She does indeed come after her mother. Very interesting."

Beside him, Ziras muzzle dropped open as her eyes widened in shock. What was he doing? Is _he really checking out that young lioness, the one that was causing nothing but trouble for them for weeks?_ How _could he be interested in Nala instead of me?_ _I gave birth to your son, I am the one who is your right hand, that lioness will only be your doom._ Zira thought as her mind imagined Nala getting perished by a bunch of crocodiles in the river. Yet she shook her head as Scar walked out of the den. _Oh my dear Nala, don't bite off more than you can chew._

* * *

><p>Since Simba had no idea of what was going on, he was still enjoying his life far away from all the problems back at pride rock. Right in that moment, there was nothing to worry about. And why should there? He was the biggest animal living in the jungle; no one would ever bother to get on the bad side of a lion. Simba was walking alongside Timon and Pumbaa through a field just outside their home.<p>

"So Simba! What was all of that stuff about the dead monarchs watchin' us from above anyway?" Timon asked after quite a long time of silence.

_No worries! Yeah, except for that huge one that has been burned into my mind for the rest of my life._ Simba thought as he remembered how he broke together the other night thinking about his father. It was one of those things; he didn't want to tell anybody in his live ever again. Not even the only two animals in the world that would possibly still wanted to put up with him anymore. "You know what Timon! Forget about it, hakuna matata!" He simply answered forcing a smile.

The meerkat nudged his warthog friend with his elbow. "The kid has finally learned!" Timon laughed at Pumbaa who shook his head with closed eyes. "So what other great stories and fairy tales do you have in store for us?" He then continued as he ran up to Pumbaas head leaning against the warthog's ear. "Next thing he's gonna' tell us is some story about lions and their prey living in complete unison and harmony like some… circle of nature… thingy!"

Simbas eyes widened as he turned away from his friends. He didn't want Timon to see that he completely hit the spot. And back they were at bringing up old memories of the past.

_It was the first time; his father took him down for a walk through the kingdom. The sun still set rather low but wrapped the pride lands in beautiful light. Antelopes, gazelles, giraffes and zebras were running through the rich and grassy fields while he and his father walked right among them. _

"_Everything you see exists together, in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures- from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope." Mufasa said as Simba kept glaring into the distance amazed by the kingdom that was soon to be his._

_The last sentence made him turn around and face his father. "But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope?" __He frowned before coming to a halt. There was some kind of discrepancy in what his father was about to teach him._

_Mufasa on the other hand kept his calm and smiled warm. "Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass. And the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected… in the great circle of live." The king smiled gently as he shoved his son forward with his front paw. "ISN'T THAT RIGHT JOE?"_

"_RIGHT YOU ARE MUFASA!" At once Simba twisted his head around to see an antelope shouting out from the distance._

"_CATCH YOU LATER!" Mufasa called out waiving his paw and laughing a little._

_Yet Joe kept jumping playfully through the veldt. "NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!"_

"Sim-ba?"

The golden furred lion snapped back to reality coming face to face with Pumbaa. "You seem to be kinda… uhm… absent over the last days. Was it something we said?" Unlike Timon, Pumbaa really showed his inner feeling to the outside. He was a real good friend, not that Timon was none, but he could never talk with Timon about those things. It's not that he wanted anyway.

"Uhm, it's nothing Pumbaa. Really, don't worry about it." Simba answered with a reassuring smirk bringing the conversation to a quick end.

* * *

><p>At first, Nala thought it couldn't get worse; a thought that was accurate months ago. It was the night that Tojo decided to take her out for a walk in the night. And that night, she realized how dramatic the drought, which had the pride lands completely in her grasp, really was. In no way, Nala expected it to get even worse. Everywhere she looked, there was grey and brown. Be it the grey rocks that were completely free from grass. And of course the brown and dry earth which got whirled up due to the cold wind that ran across the pride lands and took away the last parts of leaves which hang on only a hand full of trees.<p>

The cream lioness wandered through the pride without knowing where exactly she wanted to go. In the distance, she saw a few hyenas keeping a close eye on her. It has been like this for the last two months. And oh dear was she annoyed by having them on her tail for all the time. Nala then walked over to the rest of a little acacia tree and dropped to the ground right under it. She took another glance to the left and spotted Tama padding over to her with the exact same expression of annoyance that she had. "Hey!"

"Hey!" Tama responded as the tarnish/orange lioness lay down just beside her.

At once, the cream lioness spotted two other members of the hyena clan stopping right beside her own stalking commando and threw a killing stare over to them. "I see you have your own little club of groupies to take care of." She remarked sharply being unable to suppress a sly grin.

Tama rolled over to the side and rested the side of her head on the ground. "Yeah! I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I can't believe what Scar has done to us." She answered without taking her eyes off from the grey animals observing them.

_What Scar has done to us! Tell me about it._ Nala thought and closed her eyes. It was the king that forced the pride to overhunt the savannah. It was Scar who threw Ni, Chumvi and the others out of the pride lands. And it was him who had installed the hyenas as his enforcers, not to mention that he brought them into the kingdom in the first place.

"I would say that someone needs to stand up to Scar to stop his madness from going, but what would it help. It's not like he never faced opponents during his reign before." Her friend then threw in while she kept her eyes closed and her face lying down. "Even Sarabi reached the end of her powers. Haven't you seen how tired he looks over the last weeks?"

Nalas head tilted up by the mentioning of their 'queen' and how she had tried her best to keep the pride together. "Speaking of Sarabi, I haven't seen her for the whole day. Where is she?"

Tama eyed her and a small grin appeared on her face. "I don't know either. Nobody has seen her lately. The loss of your mother has hit her just as heavy as me."

Nalas head dropped being reminded of her mother gone. "What about you? Weren't you told to go hunting with the next party?" Now it came to her mind that besides nights and little breaks, Tama and her did not really have the time to spend with each other. Another thing that was giving her a hard time.

"My mom sent me home right away." Tama went to her feet and padded a few steps closer to her best friend. "I had to sell an injury in order for the hyenas watching to not get suspicious." The cream lioness chuckled a little on that comment. Yet the tarnish lioness brought her muzzle close to Nalas ear and started to whisper. "She said something about preparing a trap for the hyenas. I guess there is some protective instinct for me left in her.

In that moment, Nalas eyes widened. "I hope they know what they're doing. If that one fails, we're all doomed." She answered looking into the sky with worry. Movement made her turn around as Sabini headed over to them. The pale golden lioness just dropped between Nala and Tama without saying a word and angry eyes. "Now that is a face that really needs a cheer up." Nala said giving her tarnish/orange friend a wink. "What's wrong?"

Sabini shook her head with closed eyes while crossing her front legs and resting her head on them. "This place is so boring. I can't go anywhere without one of those slimy and stinky poachers following me. And since the herds are not returning, I will never learn to hunt." Her eyes faced the ground and she sighed heavy. "And I feel lonely. Malka is gone, Meethu is gone. It's just… so depressing." Her voice suddenly had a heavy tone in it.

She didn't need to say anything more as Nala knew exactly how she felt. And it broke her heart to see Sabini lying there like that. The cream lioness grabbed her by the head and pulled her closer to her. She brought their foreheads together which caused the younger lioness to smile a little. "Come on, you still got me and Tama. And as for the hunting part… I think I can arrange that too."

That last statement made the pale golden lioness give away a joyful smile as her blue eyes went big. "How do you do that?" Sabini then asked gently.

"Doing what?"

"Keeping that calm in all this terror while being there for all of us, it's almost like… you… you seem to endure everything and… still manage to have an open ear."

Nala smiled warm yet didn't really know if she was really that strong. She kinda felt as if it was her duty to follow the example that Sarabi and her mother had given her over the last years. And someone had to do something. The cream lioness then tilted her head up in realization. _You seem to endure everything… manage to have an open ear. Somebody had to do something. _Went it came to the bottom line, she really started to act like the queen she was supposed to be.

"Isn't that cute!"

The trio twisted their heads around to find Zira standing right in front of them, with Nuka standing right behind her. The young male lion couldn't help but to keep scratching his back with his hind leg. His fur was of a grey shape, and his mane was… … different. "Hi Sabin!" He muttered during his attempts to make the itching on his body stop.

Sabini just answered with a frown as she did exactly like Nala and Tama and stood up. Her cream furred friend again was the first to speak. "What do you want?" She asked in a challenging tone ready to explode on any wrong move, Zira was going to make. By now she really had started to hate her guts, a feeling that was giving back to her by 100 percent.

"I just wanted to see how the future of our pride is doing. It is one of my duties as the first female in the kingdom. It must be really hard for you young ones to grow up here." Her voice was slimy yet suave as she padded back and forth in front of the three younger lionesses.

Tama growled a little and got into a pouncing position. But she quickly got interfered by Nala who raised her paw in a calming way. "Relax Tama. I think Zira can't imagine how growing up is, since her time growing up lays way back in the past." The cream lioness mocked the older one and couldn't help but form a smile across her muzzle.

"You better watch your… wahhhh!" Nuka was about to say something when Zira growled at him and mad the young male sank together in fright.

Zira then went back to face Nala with furious eyes. "Didn't I tell you that you better watch your manners and remember where your place is?" Slowly, she walked closer to her and formed a nasty expression on her face. "Like I said, you're just as feisty as your mother. She didn't know when to keep her muzzle shut either. Which was probably the reason for her… _disappearance?_"

If it wouldn't have been for Tama putting a paw on her best friends shoulder. Nala would have lunged herself at Zira in an instant. Yet, Zira kept mocking her. "What's it like little Nala, being abandoned by every person that ever really cared for you? All your friends have left. I heard that Kula didn't even care to say a few last words before she ran away."

Nala was so close to explode. Yet she kept her calm on the outside as she started to stare into the distance and avoided facing Zira.

"Your brother went alongside your mother. Oh… and speaking of your mother." As Zira circled around the cream lioness, she shoved Tama out of the way who had to be held back by Sabini to not sink her teeth into Scars right hand. "I wonder what happened to her the time before she got into the pride lands." Nalas eyes widened. "I heard that your never knew your father. Being the half-orphan that you are, I wonder if your father was the one that… ROAR!"

It had finally happened; Nala was completely out of control as she charged forward at the tarnish lioness. Zira, being completely prepared for an outburst, moved her body around and let Nala slide over her back as she landed on the ground. The tarnish lioness then jumped at her enemy ready to strike her on the ground. With a single move, Nala flipped Zira as she finally landed on top of her.

Nukas mothers' eyes filled with shock as she saw the cream lioness standing over her and growling viciously at her. "I bet you were not prepared for me doing this." Nala answered mocking but kept the seriousness in her voice. "Just to assure you Zira, I know where my place is and was supposed to be."

Within an instant, the scene was stormed with hyenas that started pulling Nala away from her enemy. The cream lioness didn't fight them this time since she was sure she brought the message across she wanted. Zira got back to her feet and snarled at the trio that now stood again side by side. "I guess that makes us mortal enemies from now on. Or are we… _competitors?_"

Nala didn't know what Scars right hand meant by that, but she didn't care right now. With her head held high in arrogance, Zira was accompanied by her hyena escort and walked off into the distance. She soon felt Tama and Sabini walking up to her side and giving her a supporting look. Determination ran through her as she started walking into the direction of pride rock, with her two friends glancing after her in surprise.

"Where are you going?" The tarnish/orange lioness asked perplex.

Nala didn't face them and kept walking. "I'm going to talk to Scar. It's time for things to change.

* * *

><p><em>Imbeciles, idiots, morons… traitors! I'm surrounded by them. <em>Scar thought as he wandered through his cave. All of them were sabotaging his reign. The lionesses were still hunting, but by far not with the same success they had before. The hyenas' moaning and complaining kept getting bigger and bigger. Nearly in daily basis, they came running into his chamber and asked for more food. _How dare they? After all I have done for them. If it weren't for me, they were all beating off buzzards for their next bite._

Then there were Zira and Nuka. Oh my; was he incompetent. The boy was basically unable to do anything right. And on top of that, he was still complaining when he didn't get what he wanted. He was supposed to be his heir? In no way was he ever gonna give some responsibility to him. _Speaking of heirs!_ Just like she did before, Zira again tried to catch him in a weak moment. A situation he wanted to avoid at all costs. Well at least Sarabi was turning down her rate of complains. _She must have figured out that there is no way in arguing with me. _It was surprising to him that this day had been relatively quiet.

"Excuse me Sire!"

But then again, there was always Zazu. Scar put up his fake smile as he turned around to the blue hornbill. "What is it my dear major-domo?"

Zazu landed right at the feet of his king and bowed to him even though he rather didn't want. "Well sire, I wanted to inform you that the hyenas had to break up a fight between Nala and Zira just about a few minutes ago."

The king put his paw to his forehead and rubbed it. _That lioness really seems to have a short line of tolerance over the last weeks. _"And what do you want me to do about that matter?"

The blue hornbills beak dropped open in an instead. "What are you supposed to do? What are you SUPPOSED TO DO? I expect you to do at least _something!" _He said before he spread his wings and landed on the kings' 'bed'. Zazu crossed his wings, as he glanced up and down the kings' chamber. Everywhere he looked, he saw the bones of eaten up animals. It looked like a complete mess.

Yet Scar didn't really pay attention to him. _All they do is demand, demand and demand. Why aren't they paying me the respect I deserve?_ Suddenly, he felt a disturbing emptiness filling his heart, something that was eating up from inside. It was like something important was missing from him. Scar turned around to the blue hornbill that now had his back turned to the reed/brown furred king. "Zazu! Why am I not loved?"

"Come again sire!" The bird answered raising his eyebrows.

"Why am I not loved?" Scars voice became weak and miserable. It was almost like he was close to crying, a really abrupt change in his persona. Zazu couldn't help but frown as what his king was doing. He put his right front paw to his head and held in on his forehead. "I am the king; a king should be loved and adored by his subjects. But everywhere I go, I feel the barrier the lionesses put between me and them. Almost as if planning regicide." Scar went back to padding through the den with Zazu not quite sure what to make of it. "Please tell me Zazu that I'm adored."

The hornbill almost chocked on his tongue. "Uhm… well… I… uhm… I would love to but… when king Mufasa was...!"

Zazu never got to finish his sentence as Scar directly rushed over to him and snapped his teeth shut in front of the bird. "You, you dare to! How often have I told you that my brother's name is still forbidden to be said in the pride lands? Remember that cage I have installed over there just for you." He smirked at his last words and extended his front to the rips of a Zebra standing right against a wall.

His major-domo choked and stopped dead in his tracks. "Note taken sire. I shall never mention 'M-m-m' again."

Again; his king turned away from him and got back to his lamenting voice. "My brother! Even in death, his shadow looms over me. It is like a bad nightmare that always comes back to me. I wanted to be loved just like him. Even as cubs, he still was always getting all the attention. What did my brother have that I don't? What made him this beloved king?"

Zazu couldn't believe this. Was Scar going completely mad? He brought his wings to the sides of his head before he started speaking. "Do you want the short list, or the long?"

"Oh whatever!" The male lion muttered his head buried into a face palm.

"Well your majesty, he had adoring subjects."

"Aha!"

"A loving family."

"Yes!"

"A devoted queen!"

"THAT'S IT! A QUEEN! I NEED A QUEEN!"

"Oh that's a good idea. Wait… A WHAT!"

Suddenly, Scar started running through the cave with enthusiasm and joy. He was almost hyperactive. A situation which caused Zazu to literally facepalm. "A queen my dear major-domo. A queen! Without a queen, WHAT AM I? A dead end, no line, no descendants, no future. With a queen, I could carry on the tradition. With a queen I could have… CUBS. I could have… heirs. With a queen giving me young cubs, my bloodline could go on for eternity. Immortality will be mine. IMMORTALITIY WILL BE MINE!" he yelled the last sentence and spread out his front legs.

_Oh no! He completely lost it!_

"Scar!" Both the lion and the hornbill stopped and turned around to find Nala entering the den.

While the kings' face lit up with enthusiasm and desire. Zazu face would have turned white, if hornbills could actually do that. "Ahhh… Nala! Your timing could not be better." Behind him, Zazu shook his head in frustration. _Oh Nala… your timing could not have been worse._ "My how you've grown. That will be all Zazu!" the red/brown lion then said giving his major-domo a wink.

Oh no! He could not go right now. But what chance would he stand against a full grown male lion. "Are you sure sire? Don't you want me to stay?"

"THAT will be all Zazu!"

Zazu couldn't do anything here; at least he could get help somewhere, or at least a crowd. He passed the cream lioness that held a stern expression as she walked over to the king. As they passed each other, Zazu got close to her ear and whispered. "Give a roar if you need anything." With that, he flew out of the den but tried to find the lionesses as quickly as possible.

Nala was a bit perplexed as she heard the hornbills' words but didn't think about it that intensely. She had other things to worry about right now. "Scar, you have to do something. We have overhunted the veldts." She said with a calm and careful voice. She knew that the king was relatively moody over the last months.

"I have to admit, you really added some feminine assets to your figure." The male lion replied walking a few steps closer to the female. She really started to look like her mother.

The lioness however did not really get what Scar was saying and continued. "You are the king, control the hyenas, they're causing chaos out there. If we don't stop this now, the problems will be to big for us to handle."

"The world is full of problems. Even a king has desires; In order for this to stop I need a _companion_, a mate that has nobility in every gene. And you my sweet thing are perfect to the part." He started to circle around the much younger lioness while putting up a nasty and lust filled smirk.

Nala brought her head up and backed away a few steps. "Excuse me; are you even listening to me? You ARE DESTROYING the pride lands." She frowned and bared her teeth; coming in here may have been a really bad idea.

"A king alone is a sad situation indeed!" He said almost with the tongue of a snake as he sneaked up to her from behind. Nala couldn't even react as he brushed his side with hers. Her fur was so soft and shiny. Nala backed away immediately as he put his own front paw on hers. "But a king without heirs; that is a real tragedy. Come on Nala it's written in the stars."

"You can't be serious!" Panic rose up in her body as Nala started searching for the exit. She had to get out of here somewhere. Coming here was indeed a bad idea. Yet the king kept moving up to her as their eyes met. His green orbs were full of lust and passion. Was he really that crazy? He could have been her father.

Yet Scar never stopped moving forward. "I have never been more serious!"

That did it! Nala moved to the side and tried to rush out of the kings' chamber. But she didn't get far as her path was blocked by the red/brown lion. The king smirked nasty at her and continued moving forward. Memories of Kula and Jiwe reached Nalas mind as she once again backed away from him. Jiwe had gone completely insane and tried to drown her caramel colored friend. Was she going to experience the same madness? "I think it's time that beauty and power should finally bond." Scars voice changed again, it was almost like… he was singing.

A slight pain in the back made Nalas eyes wide as her back made contact with the wall. She had nowhere to run. "Scar! I warn you… back off." She retorted. She was ready to fight him, even though she in no way would have expected something like this to happen. But the king didn't stop in closing in on her.

"Tell me I'm adored!" Scar snarled. He brought his left front leg up and pressed his paw in the stone right beside Nalas head. The lioness had her back pressed against the stone wall while turning her head to the side. The kings' muzzle was now only inches away from her right cheek as he _smelled _her. "Tell me I'm ador-rraaaaah!"

Nala struck Scar across the cheek and made him tumble backwards. "Get away from me!" She bought enough time to slip by the male lion and now had a free lane out of the cave.

On the other side however, Scar rubbed his cheek and kept smirking. "Oh- hoho… Nala… you know how I loathe violence!" He got back to approaching her as he lost none of his confidence. "You should have realized by now. I am the king; I always get what I want. One way or another… you will be mine."

But the cream lioness kept walking backwards as she finally was at the mouth of the cave. "Never Scar… NEVER!" She yelled and got outside.

Scar kept smirking coming to the outside after her. "Oh I see. But I'm afraid you missing the basic point here… you belong to me!" He called out with an angry voice. He then spotted Zazu and Sarabi coming towards them with the whole pride behind them. They soon positioned themselves around Nala. "YOU ALL BELONG TO ME!" He yelled out to every lioness watching him with angry eyes. "I want everyone to know that I choose Nala to be my queen."

Their faces fell flat onto the ground by the proposal Scar had just called out. In the background, Zira eyes lit up with fire. If it hadn't been for all of the pride standing there, she would have ordered the hyenas to rip Nala apart at an instant. But she remembered what Scar told her years ago and kept in the background. _Try to solve these things delicately. _

Up in front, Nala made her way through the masses and came to halt in front of the pack. "And I reject you!" She said as she found her determination and strength back.

But all she received from Scar was a mocking chuckle. "I told you… one way or another, you will be mine. And seeing as you're kinda hard to persuade on the first try, you'll get your chance to change that. I give you time until next dawn to change your mind. If you still refuse… your _precious pride _will pay the consequences." His voice was booming as he closed the sling around Nalas neck.

All the lionesses gasped as their king started blackmailing their cream member in front of the whole pride. Nala countered with narrowed eyes and fury blasting out of her face. Yet she was unable to respond verbal as her mind imagined what her pride… no… her family… would have to go through if she kept her decision. Scar gave her a final triumphant smirk as he went back in his cave.

If Nala would have gained any signs of confidence, they had completely vanished by the scene that just had taken place. With questioning eyes, she faced Sarabi who could do nothing else but stand there with horror spread all over her face. Tama and Sabini rushed over to her as they brought her into a tight and warm embrace. Subira and Himaya joined them as the young cream lioness once again had to let the tears roll down her cheeks.

* * *

><p>Night broke over the pride lands and the whole kingdom was fast asleep. That is, nearly the entire kingdom. Two rather big figures jogged through the African savannah, kicking up dust from the hard movement of their paws.<p>

"This way!" Sarabi called quietly to the figure in the back that kept following the beige lioness through a field of dried out bushes. "If we keep ourselves low and in cover, the hyenas are unable to follow us through here." She kept whispering while still leading the way. It took them quite a while to get through the thicket.

Behind her, the figure had a hard time keeping up. The strains of the last weeks were written all over its body. The figures movements told a heavy and mentally exhausted condition. "I am still not 100 percent sure of this!" It said with a feminine voice. The moonlight hilled the dusty air with a strange pale white light as the figure stepped out of the bushes and revealed a cream furred lioness. "Isn't there any other way?" She then asked as she picked up her pace to close up on Sarabi.

The former queen twisted her head and faced her younger friend. "I see no other way." She led Nala through a dried out creek as the duo vanished behind a small slope into a canyon. As the creek mad a sharp corner to the right, the lionesses followed it and came into view of Tama, Nafsi and Subira waiting for them.

Tamas mother greeted them with quick nuzzles before she tilted her head to the back. "You sure you were not followed?" She asked as she made her way to the canyon wall and peaked around to look for hyenas giving chase.

"Nobody knows the way we went." Sarabi answered as the five lionesses settled down in a circle.

Nala let her head drop as she glanced around at the rest of her friends. A group she was supposed to leave tonight. "I still don't get it. I can't just leave you behind here." She said looking around the group that held on to the same heavy hearts as her. For the last few months, she fought for her pride to stay untied and strong. She told Zazu to find Ni and help him to get Sarafina and Meethu out of this chaos. It was never her intention to actually leave the place of her birth, the place where she grew up. And exactly this was what her queen and her friends wanted her to do.

"I don't see anything else we could do right now. It's either that, or you agree to Scar marrying you." Tama answered putting her paw on her shoulder. "And that's something I would love to avoid!" The tarnish/orange lioness forced a little smile as Nala eyed her with her sad aqua eyes.

"But if I leave, he will let out all of his aggression upon you. He won't care if I stay here or not. And that's something _I _would love to avoid."

In that moment, Sarabi walked up to the two and gave them a genuine smile. "And that's where you come in." The beige lioness smirked a little. "Nala! You really turned out to be the queen your mother and I had intended you to become." The other three lionesses widened their yes in confusion and surprise but were quickly waived off by Sarabi. "Another time!" She then turned back to Nala. "We need you to go out there and find help. With Scar going full force against us, we need you to find someone who can put an end to this."

Nala could feel her shoulders getting heavier and heavier. She slowly sunk her head. "I see! No pressure at all!"

Sarabi used her paw and tilted the cream lionesses head up as she continued to smile at her encouraging. "You can do it! You've made through all of this and still became a proud and confident lioness. You are the best huntress in our pride, and you know how to defend yourself. If there's anybody in this pride that can get us out of this misery… it's you."

The two lionesses looked deep into each other's eyes before Nala gave her queen an agreeing nod. Tama then walked up to her as she put her forehead against Nalas and closed her eyes. They both were joined by Subira and Nafsi who did the same with their cream friend. Then it was Sarabis turn to give the younger lioness her final farewell and good luck wishes. "Take care Nala, and good luck." She said as Sarafinas daughter rested her head on the older lionesses shoulder. "Your mother would be so proud!" They parted and Sarabi signed her paw in the direction of where the creek continued to go. "If you follow this way, you will reach the mangrove tree without being spotted by any creature that is left in this country."

Nala eyed all of them and smiled gently. "I promise you, I will return. I promise!" She said and started walking away from her pride into an unknown future.

As she was just a few yards away, Subira walked up to Sarabi and brought her muzzle close to the queens' ear. "Do you really think, she'll come back?" Sha asked knowing all to well that letting Nala leave was probably saving her life.

"As much as I would love her to find a happy new life somewhere else, I really meant what I said about her. And seeing as she gave her promise to return, I'm sure she'll get back with help."

_Fatshe leso lea halalela_

Nala wandered over the bed of the creek in the middle of the canyon. She tried to keep her body as low and small as possible to avoid any risk of being seen. Her memories drifted off to her first weeks. Growing up in that small shed in the middle of the pride lands, only accompanied by her injured mother and the lion that soon was to become her step-father… Ni.

_Fatshe leso lea halalela  
><em>

_Shadowland_

Her gaze went up the walls of the canyon. She could see several rocks falling down from above as the walls had completely dried out and got porous.

_The leaves have fallen_

For months, she was unable to see the stars up ahead. Something, she and Simba would do nearly every night. The dusty air was blocking every inch of the often clear sky.

_This shadowed land_

_This was our home  
><em>

Another memory crawled up her head and she remembered her first walking attempts as he got out of the den she was born in. She also remembered Ni being there and giving her slight support in standing on her young and weak legs.

_The river's dry_

Normally, the ground of this canyon was filled with water. But like she noticed for so many times by now, nearly every source of the cooling liquid had vanished from her home kingdom-

_The ground has broken_

As Nala continued to walk, she thought about all the people she had met over the years. Especially the day she got acquainted to the other cubs in king Mufasas pride. How Sarafina and Subira made her met Tama for the first time. How they played tag along with Kula… and how she met Simba that day. Even though they did not really like each other the first time they met, they became nearly inseparable until the day he died.

_So I must go_

_Now I must go_

The creek made a corner to the left and started to run into a grotto. Nala hesitated to follow it into the darkness but remembered what Sarabi told her about where she would come out at the end. She put all her guts together and entered the dark cave._  
><em>

_And where the journey may lead me_

_Let your prayers be my guide_

Since lions were perfectly capable of seeing in the dark, she had no trouble making it through the tunnel which was normally filled up to the top with water; a thought that made her really uncomfortable. She still had some reserve towards water. She remembered when she and Simba were playing alongside a river and the prince accidently caused her to fall into the water without knowing she couldn't swim. But even then, Simba wasted no time and jumped into the water grasping her by the scruff off her neck and dragged her to the bank._  
><em>

_I cannot stay here, my family  
><em>

_But I'll remember my pride_

Her fresh found happy thoughts were now whipped away as she came to the night where Scar told her about Simbas and Mufasas accident. The tragic moment that would change her life forever. It was the moment that brought and drove her up to this point as she still wandered through the grotto but could see some weak light in the distance. She was almost out._  
><em>

_And where the journey may lead you  
><em>

_Let this prayer be your guide  
><em>

She finally got back outside and looked up but still couldn't see any stars up in the sky. In the distance, Nala saw the mangrove tree and padded over to it. Tojo and the others must have passed this tree on the way to their new lives. Her mind wandered off to her lost friends.

_Though it may take you so far away_

Kula! She was the one, Nala could always talk to. She often had an open ear for anybody and their problems. And she often had a solution to go with it. The only thing she had nothing to put up against was her own problem with the beige cub Jiwe. The one who tried to drown her in a waterhole because she chose her dark brown friend Chumvi over her. _  
><em>

_Always remember your pride_

Chumvi wasn't really a genius if some could say. He often didn't know when to take back a word or shift down a gear. But he was filled with lots of love for his pride, especially for Kula, and he would always think of his friends first. Though his stomach was often filled with more food than what was good for him. _  
><em>

_Fatshe leso lea halalela_

And of course Tama, being the first cub she ever got to know. Tama was ready to do anything to keep their friendship alive. She didn't often show that she had a soft heart of all of them, especially to Simba. But she was there for her when Nala brought her family out of their kingdom and had to watch Tojo and the others to leave._  
><em>

_Fatshe leso lea halalela Fatshe leso lea halalela  
><em>

Speaking of Tojo… she often had thought about the two over the last two months. Tojo was the first male that was actually interested in her from a more mature standpoint. And it really was not that much of a surprise to her. Tojo was a really emotional guy, often underestimated in his strength and fighting ability. And he was a real good friend to every one of them.

_And where the journey may lead you  
><em>

And last but not least there was Malka, the _Joker _The first one to ever get Mwehu spend some time with them. He always had the right comeback for any sort of threat and remark. He was brave and was always passionate about their pride and their well beings.

_Let this prayer be your guide  
><em>

As the cream lioness padded over the ground towards the tree, she couldn't help but smell dry blood to her right just beside a bush in the distance. She turned to the side and soon found herself over a dry puddle of the red body liquid. She sniffed it as she spotted small pieces of pale cream fur hanging at the bush to her right. The scent was familiar and it took her a while until she realized who it belonged to. _Mwehu!_

_Though it may take you so far away_

As she thought about it, she had never seen the scarred lion in months. And considering the blood lying just right here, he must have had an encounter with the hyenas himself. No surprise actually, and Nala didn't even need to think twice how this came about.

_Always remember your pride_

At last, she reached the mangrove tree and pressed her paw on the tree trunk. Now was the time to decide, where was she supposed to go, where could she find help to take the kingdom away from Scar. Of course Chumvi, Malka and Tojo were the logical choice. But where did they go And which way did they took? And where Tojo and the others even whiling to get back into the fight for pride rock? What could possibly have changed their minds to fight against Scar? Nala shook her head and whipped her head clean from the doubts. Of course, they would come back to help them. But then again, Nala had no idea which way she should take to find them.

Sudden movement made the lioness turn around in alert and she immediately went into a fighting stance. A figure jumped out of a bush and revealed itself to her. Nala sighed in relief as she saw who it was. "Rafiki!"

The mandrill wasted no time and walked up to the female. He wrapped his arm around her and pointed with his finger into the eastern direction. "Wat yu' seek… is over ther'!" He said calm and tilted Nalas head into the same direction his finger pointed.

"The desert? Is that where Malka, Chumvi and Tojo went?" Nala raised her eyebrows in enthusiasm while padding nervously on the spot.

Rafiki smiled at her but quickly shook his head. "I don't know wher' dey went! But in dat direction, you find what you seek."

Nala never really quite got what Rafiki wanted to get across when he spoke in such mysteries. But if there was anyone to be trusted in this hellhole, it was the old mandrill that had helped the royal family for so many times. She nodded and glanced once again into the direction where the desert lay. The lioness was about to dart off as the mandrill jumped in front of her and put his hands on both her shoulders.

"Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu." She nodded her head as she understood what the mandrill was trying to tell her.

_And where the journey may lead you Giza buyabo, giza buyabo_

The two hugged each other before Nala darted off into the distance leaving Rafiki behind with a genuine smile. Hope could finally be seen on the horizon._  
><em>

_Let this prayer be your guide  
><em>

Nala soon reached the border of the pride lands and looked back to the kingdom she was about to leave behind. And once again she tried to conserve all the faces that once filled her life but where now gone. Chumvi, Kula, Tama, Tojo, Malka, Sabini, Ni, Meethu, her mother, Mufasa… and Simba. The cream lioness breathed heavily and inhaled the last scent of the pride lands before she entered the desert.

_Beso bo, my people, beso bo_

* * *

><p>Author's note: Well, this was my take of the madness of king Scar. I tried to go for a mix of the deleted scene on the blu-ray and the musical version. In the end, it turned out to be more like the early storyboard version from the movie since it gave me the visuals to go with.<p> 


	13. and where the journey may lead you

What's up… so here we have the next chapter which means that after this one there will be three more left.

**Reldor**: After reading a lot of fanfics over the last months. Leaving the scene out was no option. Like you said, it adds a lot to the story. In general I would love to see the scene in a recut of the movie. The scene definitely puts the stacks up higher and would have made Scar become a more menacing villain. Giving the fact that after he takes over the pride lands, he basically does NOTHING.

**Emily642:** my thoughts exactly. The thing about Scar giving her the choice between pestilence and cholera could be ordered in the category 'saved by the bell'. I was already facing and considering a long argument where Nala was refusing to leave the pride and had to be persuaded by Sarabi and the rest of the lionesses. But when I was just two sentences awy from the moment where Nala was rejecting him. I had the idea to go the easy way. The Nala I tried to set up here would have not left just on her own decision without anything endangering her. Besides having her banished was no option for me.

**Jatha: **The thing with the dialog will be a common them over the next chapter. By now we have entered a point in the story where we're basically doing a 'play by play' with little additions and left outs. The first thing I heard about this scene were in fanfics as well. Back then, I thought to myself "oh this is a bit cliché with the villain going after the hero's girl." And like the producers, I thought it was a bit to creepy. I think that it has mostly to do with the huge difference in age and that the villain in this flick is the love interests **freaking uncle**.

But like I said earlier, it is the most logical event that lead to Nala leaving the pride. With my version, I wanted Scar actions to be a bit more caused in the heat of the moment/passion. I set up that Scar was more interested in Sarafina and didn't plan to go after Nala in the first place. Of course it added to the drama that Nala turned out to look exactly like her mother. I wanted to bring across that Nala was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But enough of that! Let's continue…

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 13: and where the journey may lead you<span>

"I don't know what type of game you are playing with me Sarabi. But I assure you that, when I get behind this, you will face the consequences and the complete power of my wrath!" Scar said angrily as he circled around the former queen. It had been days since Nala got send away to her mission of finding an opponent for Scar. The king was more than upset, he was completely furious. "So… I ask again. Where did she go?" He snarled at her.

The beige lioness in front of him kept her stem face and showed no emotion. Inside however she was smiling a bit. _He doesn't know, our little plan worked out._ Sarabi thought yet didn't move on the outside. She just kept staring down pride rock as the king continued walking around her. "I don't know Scar, she could have gone anywhere! It is no real surprise to me. I mean, after what you pulled days ago." She remarked knowing that the king was about to snap.

And she was right. Scar didn't waste any second before getting into the lionesses face and snapping his fangs close in front of her. "Are you accusing me of something? I made a legit proposal to a lioness. I don't see how you are allowed to judge me on that." He snarled.

"If you think, blackmailing a young lioness to become your queen while threatening her to hurt anyone who is in some way close to her is the right way to propose to someone, you're an even bigger fool than I thought." Sarabi knew that giving contra to the king right now, could make things even more heated up around pride rock than they already were. But right now, all she cared about was to not give the king the upper hand.

"AWAY!" Scar yelled as he pointed with his paw down to the dusty and dry fields in front of pride rock. Sarabi gave him a quick mocking smirk and padded down the path. The king watched after her with cold and angry eyes. His sister in law really started to get on his nerves. If this would keep up, he really had to think of a way to make her stop permanent. Scar then continued walking to the end of the ledge emerging from his rocky castle. Everything was falling apart. Everywhere he looked, he found subordinates and idiots having only on purpose; to ruin his time as king. Scar had already made clear that if the hunting parties were not getting successful any time soon, the lionesses would get even more punished then they had been before.

He then heard movement on the left and he twisted his head. His senses relaxed a little as he saw Zira coming up the path of pride rock and having a distant glance on her face. She gave Scar a quick nod and a smirk before passing him without further notice. "Where have you been?" The red/brown male lion said stern turning his head to his right side.

The tarnish lioness stopped and turned her head while her body still directed towards his den. "Out! I went on a diplomatic mission." She said cold and padded inside the kings' chamber.

Scar didn't like this either one bid. Yet again, he had to admit that Zira was an ultimate opportunist. She knew when a chance for an evil plan to succeed was there and she took it. So just in the night after he was informed that Nala had run away. Just like when he was all tired and helpless, Zira lured him in. And maybe just like Nuka, this was going to turn out like a bad choice. But he had to admit, Zira was really knew how to achieve her goals on the smooth way. Just like he had always taught her.

* * *

><p>Again it was one of those days where Simba had nothing else to do than just lay down on his back…or his stomach (just depending on what was feeling more smooth at the moment). Nothing to worry, nothing to do except enjoying his life as a bachelor alongside his two friends Timon and Pumbaa. The sun was shining brightly on his golden coat as he had positioned himself in a hammock made out of lianas in the midst of a clearing he and his two buddies often used as a settling point. Simba inhaled the fresh non air and dazed off with his eyes closed.<p>

But his soon found peace was disturbed as he felt paw and hoof steps approaching him from the distance. Simba didn't dare to open his eyes as he could already tell his companions walking over to him. "Hey Simba, we wanna go out for a walk, wanna come with us?" Pumbaa asked in his typical joyful and optimistic manner.

Simba couldn't help but smile at him, yet he didn't have the motivation to stand up and take a hike. "No thanks Pumbaa, I just stay here and take a nap." He answered shaking his head with a bride smile.

"Suit yaself buddy!" Timon replied as he hopped onto his warthog friends' neck and used the hair on top of Pumbaas head as reins. Seeing as their feline friend had already dazed off into the land of dreams, the strange duo didn't want to bother him anymore and trotted off. "Y'know Pumbaa, this occasion calls for a song!" The meerkat remarked while his friend began to walk away from Simba.

Pumbaa glanced up in delight. "Uhm… I know one, I know one. What do you think of this?" The red furred warthog cleared his throat. "My _heart is beating like a jungle drum! Rakatungtungrakatungonburu_." He started but got quickly intervened by his meerkat friend.

"Nah! Do ya' think his heart is currently beating like a jungle drum?" Timon answered and called inside his friends' ear.

The warthog let his head sink for a short moment in disappointment before bringing back up with joy in his face. "Oh… and what about this one? _I've got jungle fever, she's got jungle fever,__ w__e've got jungle fever, we're in love."_ Pumba once again started to sing and did a little dance with his hoofs before Timon jumped onto his muzzle and waiving his hands.

"Do you really think he's in love right now?"

As Pumbaa directed the pupils of his eyes to the sky and opened his muzzle to say something. "I guess no… I mean, I don't know what he's really thinking since I can't watch into his head. But since you put it this way, I guess you're right."

The duo continued to walk across the jungle with none of the two saying a word for about three minutes. But then, Timon brought his head up and pointed his finger into the sky. "Now I got one! Pumbaa… I need a beat." He crawled up to his buddy's ear and started whispering a beat into it. Right after that, Pumbaa started to repeat.

"A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh!"

Timon gave him an ok sign and began with the text. "_In the jungle, the mighty jungle. The lion sleeps tonight. In the jungle…"_

In the distance, Simba could still hear his friends singing and calling out through the jungle which made him put the ends of his muzzle up as he smiled gladly. But tiredness soon overcame him and he drifted off into sleep.

"_Haha… and once again, the mighty Chumvi stands triumphant over the little ogre Tojo." The dark brown cub called to the pride lands as he had both his front paws pressed onto his ochre colored friends' back. Tojo pressed his paws against his cheeks in frustration because of the recent defeat. "Wanna go again my dear friend?" Chumvi then said as he laughed before he got off from Tojo to bring their eyes on the same level._

_The ochre cub smirked a little before he got into a sitting position. "I swear to you Chummy, one day I will be the one standing on your back. And then your little world that you created will have vanished into pieces. Muahahahaha!" He answered and gave of a fake sinister and maniacal laughter. _

_Simba only smiled as he laid a few feet away and observed his two friends. Yeah he could definitely enjoy having only Chumvi and Tojo around to play. But he still looked forward to the day he and Nala were allowed to play together. Only one day of his punishment were left, he made it through six days of one week he wasn't allowed to hang out with his cream furred female friend. And boy did he look forward to talk to her for more than a few words at meals and before bedtime. _

"_I'm seriously Chummy! Get off of me, why don't you try to knock Simba over for a change." _

_The golden cub right away went to his feet and got into a cautious stance. He was expecting Chumvi to jump at him at any second. And he was not gonna be disappointed. The dark brown cub jumped at the prince and tried to pin him down to the ground. Yet Simba had a lot of training time with Nala and quickly countered his friend having him roll out into the open. They both laughed as they got into another round as Chumvi tried to press him to the ground and Simba using his back to throw him over. The two cubs wrestled for quite a while until they both dropped exhausted to the ground. Simba glanced up into the afternoon sun before he glanced to the side seeing that Tojo and Chumvi were doing exactly the same._

_The ochre cub, extracted his paws from his body as he swung after a butterfly passing over him. "You know guys, life couldn't be better." He said and inhaled deeply. A roar could be heard in the distance which made all three of them shook their heads up and ran back to pride rock. The hunting party had returned with a freshly killed animal._

_Everybody joined in on the meal. Mwehu had quickly chewed off a piece from the Zebra, the hunting party had brought with them, and positioned himself a few yards away from the rest. Simba on the other hand right away got beside Nala who greeted him with a quick smile. "So… any plans for tomorrow already?" The cream furred cub asked silently between chewing off from their prey._

"_Not yet but… I'll think of something." The young prince answered trying to avoid any attention or suspicion coming from their parents. _

_It didn't take long for the pride to finish their meal and for Mwehu, Scar and, to his surprise, Jiwe to go their separate ways. Simba watched as Sarafina directed her daughter to follow her along the side path of pride rock to probably get another bath. Simba didn't hesitate and walked up to her bringing his muzzle close to her ear. "I see you tomorrow then."_

_Nala turned her head and smiled. "I still don't what we're going to do!" She answered shifting her gaze back and forth from her friend to her mother to not get spotted to soon. _

"_Just meet me outside the cave short after lunch, I pick you up there!" Simba replied with a silent voice. Nala gave him quick hug which made the golden prince blush a little. _

"_I see you tomorrow then!"_

"_You bet!" The male cub smiled and trotted back over to his own parents not knowing that this would be the last time, he would ever see Nala again._

Noises made Simba shook out of his sleep. Still dizzy but pretty aware of his surroundings, he perked up his ear to see what was the source of the sounds. Every animal in the jungle knew that this was not a quiet place, but there were occasions where even the constant rumbling was disturbed by something strange hailing through the fauna of this place. The golden lion quickly recognized what was causing the sounds in the distance. And his eyes widened in concern.

It were screams of fear and horror, and they were coming from his friend Pumbaa.

* * *

><p><em>Hey sleepy head! Get up, we have things to do! <em>A voice inside Nalas head made her wander off from her trance. She looked around and still found herself in the desert. Yet after hours of walking and padding, the cram lioness had found a nice little oasis where she could lay down in the shade, take a drink and daze off a little bit. The way through the desert in this immense heat was hard and exhausting. The sun was burning down unmerciful on her coat and the heat was drying her out from the inside. But she couldn't stay here for too long, like the voice in her head said. She had thing to do.

Slowly, the lioness brought her upper body up and heaved her figure into a sitting position. She glanced around and except for the little green plant life that was surrounding her by now, Nala could see nothing else but sand and dry earth. Slowly she walked up to a little pond where she sank her head completely into the liquid. It was refreshing to have the at least pleasant temperature water enclose on her face and make her head feel a little less dizzy. _OK! Now, which direction to go first?_ Nala walked up to the edge of the oasis and glanced over the sandy and dusty landscape. Thanks to her keeping attention to the stars the other night, and considering the stand of the sun. She was able to make out of which direction she was coming.

Short after she watched a few vultures circling in the sky above her, she continued to walk in the opposite direction of where she came from. After a few hours more of walking, little doubts started to fill the lioness from the inside. _I hope that old mandrill knew what he was getting me into._ Nala heard rumblings coming from underneath her. She knew immediately that it was her stomach that was making notice of himself.

Nala had to find something to eat quickly, she already felt tired again, the water she consumed earlier was barely enough to keep her moving for the rest o the day. And with no other shade in sight, she was going to be out of protection from the merciless sun. Once more, her mind wandered off to her pride she left back at home. It would be a shame if her journey would end here, in the middle of the desert without anyone taken notice of the cream lioness ending here on her way to find help.

Suddenly, she felt the ground under her paws feeling different. Nala tilted her head down and found herself at the end of a field of yellow colored high grass. She brought her head up further and her eyes widened in shock, how in the world could she not see this coming? Right in front of her stood a majestic looking jungle with green plants wherever she could glance. All she had to do to get there was making it through the field. With that jungle up ahead, her chances of finding someone who was willing to help her were as high as never.

But first, the cream lioness had to quiet down her stomach; she had to find something to eat. Movement in the left corner of her eye made Nala twist her head. _Right on cue!_ She though almost in disbelief. Not far away from her, she spotted a warthog leaving the protection of the jungle and walking up to flat lying tree trunk in the open field.

Nala didn't hesitate and went into a pouncing position. The lioness kept her body low and slowly marched forward gaining up to her fresh found prey. _What is it doing?_ She thought as she watched the red furred animal standing up flatly behind a tree. _Is he trying to pounce on to the little bug on the wood? _

A bunch of birds suddenly leaping of the ground into the air made her jump a few inches while she gave away a slight gasp. _Oh no!_ Nala thought and dropped down to the ground at once. The warthog tilted his head to the back and glanced directly into her direction. For a short moment, Nala was ready to jump up and attack the fat animal. But the warthog only shrugged and made his way over the tree trunk which he tried to climb just a few seconds ago.

Now she had him, Nala pressed her back legs into the ground ready to jump the animal at any second.

"AHHHHHH!" He screamed in horror and started running away.

_Oh no you're not!_ Inside her mind, Nala cursed at the fact that she got caught. Now she had no other chance as to give chase to her fleeing victim. _Maybe it was my hunger that made me impatient! Jeez this thing is fast._ The cream lioness ran after the warthog. Due to her hunger and exhaustion, she could not really catch up to it. And to her surprise, the red furred animal was even agile enough to maneuver itself quickly through the jungle.

The warthog ran up the huge roots of a tree and dodged the attack of Nala who started to get frustrated. "Come here you…" She yelled as she missed another jumping attack.

Now the animal was even winning ground on her. Nala couldn't believe it. She, the best huntress in the pride lands was gonna be ditched by a fat pig. But then her eyes widened and the edges of her muzzle turned upwards. The red animal had caught itself under a tree root. Soon, she had him. _What the…? A meerkat coming to the aid of a warthog? Already, this place seems really weird. But whatever… _Nala could already feel her teeth sinking in the animals flesh as she charged forward and jumped at the strange duo.

"ROAR!" It came from above. And seconds later, a full grown young male lion jumped over the root into her direction.

_Oh my… no… w_as all she could think of as her eyes widened in shock. Already, the male lion had pressed her to the ground. Nala moved quickly to slip under his grasp and started throwing her paws art his face. _What's going on here? Is he… protecting them? _Again, Nala swung her claws at his mane as the two lions circled around each other. The two looked at each other for a second. Nala was exhausted, she couldn't go on with a male lion for much longer, he seemed to be really healthy where she was basically under immense mentally and physically stress for the last… years.

The male lion took a little offset and jumped right at her once more. Nala got knocked over by him as she could feel her back getting in contact with the ground. _Oh wait… I got one more move up my sleeve._

Like so many times before, Nala shifted her body around which caused the lion to land hard on his back as Nala pressed her paws onto his shoulders and pinned him to the ground. The male gasped in shock and astonishment as he glanced up at the cream lioness. _Ha... it worked, now you better stand down or…_

"Nala?"

…_I'll… wait what?"_ Nothing could have prepared Nala for what happened next. The male just spoke out her name. _How does he..?_ She quickly backed off a few feet and came to a halt unsure if she should run or stay.

"Is it really you?"

How does this lion know her name? She observed him quickly. It was definitely not Chumvi. For being Malka, he missed the black hair. To be Jiwe or Mwehu, he certainly lacked the scars. For Ni, he was too young. The closest thing he came to was Tojo, but this lion had golden fur and a red mane in contrast to Tojo ochre ones. She had nothing. "Who ARE you?" She asked carefully.

The male smiled as he walked two steps closer. "It's me… Simba!"

"Simba?" _No way! He is dead. Simba IS dead! It… it can't be. _Nala shifted her head forward observing the lion who still smiled at her. The realization hit her like a buffalo with its horns. The golden fur, those amber eyes, that… that smile. It was cocky yet incredible warm. The little wrinkle that appeared on his left side when he smiled. It was really him. Her face lit up and she couldn't help but cry out. "WHOA!"

"WHOA!" Simba answered and the two stormed towards each other. They brought their foreheads together like they used to when they were cubs and began dancing around each other.

"But how did you?"

"How did you?"

"Where did you come from?" Granted that wasn't the best question Nala could have thought of in that situation but her mind was non corpus mentis anyway right now.

"Whoa it's great to see you!"

He was acting like a little cub seeing his best friend in front of him for the first time in more than two years. Actually, Nala was acting the same. "It's great to see YOU!" She answered as the two continued to jump around in joy and circling each other.

"What are you doing here?"

_Is he serious? 'What am I doing here?' He's the one who was called dead for the last years._ Nala couldn't help but to keep looking into his amber eyes as she still had so many questions to ask. _Well, start with the obvious. _"What do you mean what am I doing here? What are YOU doing here?" She asked as the two came to a halt in front of each other while shifting their front paws back and forth nervously.

"HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

Nala glanced down to find the source of the voice. It was the meerkat, Simba must indeed been there to protect them. She had totally forgotten about the little animal and his warthog friend. _Oh-oh!_ _Maybe trying to eat Simbas friends wasn't the best idea to come up with._

Simba glanced down too towards his friend abut kept his smile all the way. "Timon, this is Nala. She's my best friend." Simba smiled warm at the cream lioness and brought his head up.

_He still sees me as his best friend. _Nala was completely flattered, after all these years, Simba was just as joyful and caring as he was back in the old days. She returned the gesture with a warm smile herself. She ignored the kinda skeptical '_friend' _which Timon answered before Simba called Pumbaa over who introduced himself to her. "The pleasure is all mine." She answered gladly to the animal that a moment ago was going to end on her dinner plate.

"Okay… time out! So let me get this straight. You know her, she knows you… but she wants to eat him. And… everybody's okay with this. DID I MISS SOMETHIN'?" Timon was yelling out loud as he breathed heavily for air.

Seeing as his friend was close to having a heart attack, Simba brought his head down and tried to calm him down. "Relax Timon!"

Nala on the other hand had other things to worry about. "Wait till everybody hears that you've been here all this time. And your mother… what'll she think." She couldn't wait to see the looks on everybody's faces when she was walking up to pride rock, right in front of that face of Scar and Zira to present the true heir of the pride lands to them. She couldn't wait to see the broad smile on Sarabis face when her son was coming up to her.

The golden lion backed away a little bit by the thought of his mother. _I can't go back. Not after what I've done. _"She doesn't have to know! Nobody has to know."

Yet the enthusiasm in Nalas face was not reduced one bit. "Of course they do, everybody thinks you're dead."

_Dead… but how! I just had to run away. _"They do?" He noticed Nalas face getting stern and sad in an instant.

"Yeah! Scar told us about the stampede." She said with a heavy heart.

That was what he feared; Scar had told them about how he caused the wildebeests to go wild with his tiny roar. _But Nala doesn't seem to care about that fact. How much does she know?_ "He did? What else did he tell you?" He asked avoiding her gaze for a moment to not give her a chance to ask him further.

"What else matters? You're alive!" Nala tilted her head back as she realized a very important fact that she didn't brought up to the table yet. _Rafiki! You are a genius! _"And that means… you're the king." She widened her smile as the thought of her best friend being the one that could bring them all out of their misery hammered itself into her mind.

"King? Lady have you got your lions crossed." Timon got back into the conversation which caused Nala to glance down at him.

_What's going on here? Don't they know who he is? Hasn't he told them?_ Nala thought. Pumbaa was acting weird as he crawled up to Simba and started to kiss his paw. _He really didn't tell them. Seems like he has changed after all over the years. _Yet her attention was drawn back to Timon who just had asked about being the king.

"NO!"

_What the…_ "Simba!"

The golden lion turned away from her and started walking away. "No I'm not the king. I mean I was gonna be but… that happened a long time ago."

Nala couldn't believe it and frowned. When they were cubs, all he did was bragging about how he was going to become the future king. Hell… he even introduced himself with the title prince Simba. Now this was something, she had to address. But she couldn't do it as long as these two were around. "Could you guys excuse us for a minute?" She asked and addressed Timon and Pumbaa with a sly smile.

After a quick argument, the meerkat and the warthog started to pad away and leave the two lions alone. Simba glanced after them as he could only shook his head at the fact that Timon reacted more like a diva then he would admit it. He turned around to see Nala glancing at him with a stern expression.

"You've changed!" She said blandly.

"No I didn't… not that much!" Simba answered giving her a sly smirk. Yet he kinda had the idea what was going to follow next.

Nala put on a smirk herself and raised her left eyebrow. "Whatever happened to the cub that couldn't wait to be king?" She asked from her position.

Simba heart sank a little bit. He didn't want to bring up the day his father died, seeing as that would only call out questions from his female friend. But he had to if he wanted her to understand. "He… he vanished on that… that day." He said and his face dropped. The golden lion glanced to the side and saw that Nala had turned her head to the side as well while she stared to the ground with sad eyes. "What, what is it?" Simba walked up to her right side and asked in concern.

"It's… It's like you're back from the dead." She answered and inhaled deeply before facing him again. "You have no idea what this will mean to everyone. What it means to me." Nala let her head hang down once more. She looked really sad.

He had to do something to make her feel better. "Hey, it's okay!" He smiled.

"I've really missed you!"

Simba was completely taken aback as his best friend pulled her head closer to him and brought it under his chin. His eyes widened and he started to blush. The two lions started to nuzzle each other as Simba smiled gently. "I've missed you too." The two stood in their position for quite a while until a strange rumbling made the golden lion back off from his friend. "What was that?" he asked perplex.

Nala giggled a little embarrassed and glanced down on her stomach. "Sorry, I… kinda have been running on empty for the last hours." Nala answered and rubbed her belly with her right front paw.

To her right, the golden lion smirked and nudged her with his muzzle on the shoulder. "Well then! Let's find you something to chew on." Simba said and led the way away from the scene with Timon and Pumbaa watching them from behind.

* * *

><p>The evening was settling over the jungle as Simba led Nala for a quick round around the block. There were so many things the two had to say to each other. But still there was some sort of preserve in the air. All the time, Simba tried to avoid letting the subject turn towards him being the king and the day where his plans of becoming the king were erased from the surface of the earth.<p>

"And then, the guy walks up to these three hyenas and goes like this, 'the best thing you can do is go die and save me from make you die'." Nala laughed as she told her golden friend of the day, Mwehu and Malka met for the first time. "He and the other three animals did not even have started before Malka enters the scene and starts arguing with him. It was totally priceless."

Simba listened to her carefully enjoying every little syllable that came out from the cream lioness' muzzle. The two were literally walking fur to fur as they trotted through the green landscape of the jungle. The golden furred lion couldn't help but keep one part of his left eye always locked on his female friend. He felt really strange since the moment she arrived earlier on. "Here we are!" He finally said and raised his paw into the direction of a clearing.

Nala glanced around confused and tried to observe the place. "Here?" What do you mean 'here we are'?" She asked not seeing what the male wanted.

"I thought you wanted something to eat." Simba answered and walked over to a flat lying tree trunk. Nala watched him with a frown not sure what he wanted. The male lion hammered his paw on the wood and caused several grubs to crawl out of the trunk. With his left paw, he grabbed a pair of them and carried them over to Nala. "Here you go!"

The cream lioness raised her eyebrows and backed away a bit. "You are not really going to…" But Simba had already put one of them in his muzzle and slurped it down his throat. "… eat that?"" She finished.

"You want some?" He again offered her one of the grubs but only caused her to back of a little further.

Nala put her paw in front of her body in defense. "I think I pass on this one. I… actually don't feel that hungry anymore! But I could go for a little drink." She then said putting on a nervous smile.

Seeing as he probably should have seen this one coming, Simba smiled reassuring and extracted his paw to his right. "You're lucky; I just have the right thing for you. Come on!" Together, they climbed down a small path beside a waterfall.

_Can you feel, the love tonight..._

_the peace the evening brings  
><em>

_The world for once, in perfect harmony  
><em>

_with all its living things.  
><em>

The two lions settled down beside a small pond with Nala on one side, and Simba on the other side. She quickly put her head down to sib from the water which was really cold. Simba eyed her closely. When in all those years did she become so beautiful?

So many things to tell her

Simba brought his head down to take a drink himself. His and Nalas eyes met and the cream lioness gave him a warm smile. This caused the male lion to back off and pull his head back up._  
><em>

_but how to make her see._

_The truth about my past..Impossible!  
><em>

With her being around, all the demons of his past were free to return to him. What if she got curious again? He couldn't tell her. The fact of her knowing that he killed his father would make her despise him for the rest of his life. And at this point, he knew that he didn't want to be separated from her ever again.

_She'd turn away from me.._

He continued to watch his female friend as she continued to let the cooling water float down her throat as she opened her eyes to face him.

_He's holding back, he's hiding_

Something was wrong. That was something that Nala was sure about. Why didn't he want his mother or the rest of the pride to know about him being alive? Something far more painful happened that day at the gorge. Something that he tried to bury deep inside his conscience. _  
><em>

_but what I can't decide.  
><em>

She brought her head up and looked at the former prince with confusion in her eyes. What was he suddenly smiling about? "What's on your mind Sim?"

_Why won't he be the king I know he is_

"Watch and see!" Simba gave his friend a wink and ran pass her making Nala watch after him with yet even more confused eyes than before. The lioness turned her head around and watched after him. _  
><em>

_the king I see inside..._

She then spotted Simba running up to her with something that looked like a liana between his teeth. The male ran past Nala who shook back shocked as Simba sailed through the air.

Can you feel, the love tonight

In a high bow, Simba landed directly in the pond as he spread water all over the place. Right away Nala ran at the bank as he tried to get a peak of where her friend was right now. "SIMBA, SIMBA! You Alright?" She called out as she brought her head close to the surface.

"GOT YA!" Was all she heard as a golden flash emerged from the water and enclosed its arms around her neck. With a quick motion, Simba pulled the lioness under the surface into the water only for her to tilt her head out of the pond with frozen shock.

_the peace the evening brings_

Nala gasped out loud as she desperately swam to the bank and pulled herself out of the pond. Her fur was completely wet and she felt the freezing cold engulfing her body. "I see that you really made progress in your swimming skills. I have to admit, that was really fun." She heard Simba say behind her as the male himself got out to the side of her friend. His face was completely covered by his wet mane. "If you like it then… GO BACK IN!" She said and shoved her friend back into the pond before darting off into the distance._  
><em>

_The world for once, in perfect harmony  
><em>

Simba pushed himself back to solid ground and immediately darted off after Nala. The two entered a field and the cream lioness gave her golden companion a quick glance before she picked up her pace. "Face it Sim, you'll never catch me!"

"You better make sure, or else you're in big trouble!" Simba pushed his body to the edge as he closed up to her. The lions were now running side by side having the most fun ever for the last years. And just as Simba was about to tackle Nala to the ground, the lioness dodged to the right and jumped down a little slope. The golden male jumped after her and found her already waiting for him. She got up to her back feet and extended both her front legs offering Simba to jump directly at her. "Do you think this is such a good idea?" he said still laughing."I mean we could… ahhh!"

_with all its living things_

He and Nala tumbled backwards and the duo rolled down yet another slope. For a short moment, Simba lost sight of nearly all of his surroundings and could only see cream in front of him.

_Can you feel the love tonight  
><em>

WHOMP! It made as they landed soft on the ground with Simba on top of his cream friend. He still had his eyes closed and thought about how he finally managed to have Nala pinned to the ground. But that thought was disturbed as he felt something wet and sweat stroking alongside his cheek. He opened his to see Nala looking at him kinda… _funny. _She laid back in the grass staring at him.

_You need'nt look too far  
><em>

She leaned back in the grass staring at him with her aqua dream like eyes. A glance that made him completely defenseless and dizzy. She licked him on the cheek. Not one of those friendly ones like the one she gave him back at the elephant graveyard. This one meant more.

All Simba could do in that moment was stare at her in amazement of how beautiful she looked. The golden lion smiled as he felt his head getting hot once more and realized what was going on here.

_Stealing through, the night's uncertanies  
><em>

Nala kept glancing up at him with her seductive eyes still intact. "Are you just going to freeze to death up there or are you gonna do something?" Simba hesitated a second before he leaned forward to nuzzle her gently and passionate. Time slowed down at once as both lions enjoyed this moment.

_Love is where they are..._

Simba brought his head away from her and glared at her dizzy and dreamy. "I bet if Zazu would be here, he would give us one of these 'I told you so' looks." He said and leaned forward once again giving his 'girlfriend' a lick on the cheek himself. "Kinda funny how it took us more than three years to get to this point." He kept licking the cream furred lioness all over her face as she turned her head to the side with her eyes closed and her muzzle turned into a smile.

_And if he feels the love tonight,_

"I know. And quite frankly, I don't care what Zazu would think right now." She grabbed his head with both her paws and pulled him closer to her as she buried her head in his mane. "Just do me one favour!"

_In the way I do._

The golden furred male was barely able to get what she was saying as his hormones were running the isle of men right now. "What?" he mumbled facing her again.

_It's enough for this restless wanderer._

In her mind, Nala recalled what she said that day on the elephant graveyard. "Simba, don't leave me!" Simba remembered and made their cheeks touch each other for what seemed like eternity. "Don't worry Nala! I'm not going anywhere."

_Just to be, with you._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note and trivia:<strong> Songs used in this chapter are…

Jungle drum by Emiliana Torrini - I can't say I especially like the song (It's okay I think) but it has the word jungle in it and it was one of the first that came into my mind to make the joke work.

Jungle fever by Stevie Wonder – Now this one is a good song.

And of course… Can you feel the love tonight – music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice


	14. on the road again

Another week has passed and we're close to the finale. After this, there's one more to go.

**Reldor: **ah…crap :)

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 14: on the road again<span>

Slowly, Simba forced his eyelashes to open up and reveal the world around him. Night had settled over the jungle and the golden lion felt somewhat dizzy. Everything was still a blur. As Simba dared to glance around and observe his surroundings. Something was moving underneath him, and the male lion stared down and his eyes widened. He was lying on top of his long childhood friend Nala. The lioness lay just underneath him on her stomach. She had her head resting on the ground with a smile all spread across her face.

As the prince saw in what position he placed himself in on the cream furred lioness, he remembered everything. How the two had finally found each other after all this time and how they expressed their feelings to each other. And of course… the other part which Simba could only gasp about. He could feel the body underneath him move as Nala raised her head into his direction and licked him on the cheek.

"Hi!" She said smiling and twisted her body so she once again lay on her back.

"Hi!" Simba mumbled looking at her with warm eyes.

Nala glanced up into the air as she caught sight of the stars. "What do you think about taking a walk?" She asked at the golden lion who got to his paws and padded a few feet away from her.

"I would like that!" He answered as he waited for his friend to get to her feet. They were still at the feet of the slope they rolled down earlier on. Simba had no idea how long both of them had been asleep, but it couldn't have been that long. The duo quickly moved away from the spot they spend the last few… hours, the guessed, at and began to slender side by side across the jungle.

For quite a while, the cream lioness kept quiet and just enjoyed the time being back with him. But seeing as she still had things to take care of, she had to engage him in some sort of conversation. "So uhm… Simba!" She began unsure of how to bring the words out in the right direction. "Those two little friends of yours, what part exactly are they playing in your life?" Her voice was a bit unsure giving her friend a sly smirk. It was definitely not eh best way to start this. But right now she couldn't think of anything else.

Simba let his head drop for a quick second as a slight laughter escaped his muzzle. "They're uhm… kinda have been my parents." He answered a bit embarrassed.

Nala laughed out loud as she heard what the male lion was saying. "So you're telling me that you have been raised by a meerkat and a warthog in the middle of the jungle, and you still turned out to be this handsome creature?" She rubbed her right front paw through hi mane causing a bit of chaos to his red hair. "You're life must have been really weird." She continued.

The golden lion shoved her paw away and tried to fix the mess in his mane. "You have no idea!" He retorted and continued moving forward.

Soon, the couple reached the feet of a path which led up a hill going through the thicket. Now, Nala seemed to have found the right moment to get some information out of her friend. "You know! You could fill me in. What has your life been while living here?" She asked with concern reaching her face as she closed up on Simba.

"I think it's better not to talk about it." He simply said and kept walking.

_He is still suppressing it. What does he think he's gaining by keeping everything in the past? _"But Simba, what is so dramatic that you don't want to talk about it?" Nala asked out in an almost pleading voice. But the golden male kept moving without reacting to her. _Oh no! You're not getting away that easily. _With quick steps, she followed him up the path as they reached the top of the hill.

When Nala glanced around, she saw a majestic looking waterfall to her right. Simba had led her to a huge gorge. A giant tree trunk was leading the way from one side of it to the other. The male lion in front of her kept moving as he stepped on the flat lying wood. "Isn't this a great place?" He asked in a playful voice.

The cream lioness once again looked around. It was indeed a beautiful place. But she immediately caught Simbas attempt to change the subject. "It is beautiful!" She admitted seeing as this was the best way to re-enter the conversation. "But I don't understand. If you have been alive all this time, why haven't you have come back to pride rock?"

Simba on the other paw felt his heart drop a little. There was no way in avoiding this right now. "Well I…" he started not sure how to move his way around the whole truth. "I just needed to get out of my own. Life my own life, I did and it's great." He answered shifting his tone to a joyful one at the end. Simba then shifted his body into a bunch of lianas which were positioned to serve as a hammock.

Nala watched him with a calm yet a bit disappointed face. _It seems almost like he doesn't even care. No! Simba wouldn't do that._ "We've really needed you at home." She said feeling that some of the joy she felt of meeting him was vanishing from her body.

Still lying in his hammock, but with his eyes getting sad, Simba glanced to the side. His mood suddenly shifted. "Nobody needs me!"

_That's not true… I need you! _He needed some encouragement. "YES! We DO. You're the king." Nala answered narrowing her eyes.

"Nala, we've been through this. I'm not the king… Scar is!"

It was almost like she was talking to a complete stranger. _He is serious of this whole 'not being the king' thing. _But she was not willing to give up just yet. He had to know what was going on at pride rock. Nala went forward and brought her front paws onto one liana. "Simba… he let the hyenas take over the pride lands."

Simbas face dropped as he heard the last words. "WHAT!" No, the hyenas were not allowed in the pride lands.

Nala faced the ground and her expression got stern and angry. "Everything's destroyed. There's no food, no water." She got closer to her friend and once again started to plead to him. "Simba, if you don't do something, everyone will starve." She had to make him return.

But the golden lion turned his face away from her as he climbed out of the hammock. "I can't go back. You wouldn't understand." He turned his back towards Nala and started padding away.

The cream furred lioness was losing her patience. "What wouldn't I understand?" She almost yelled angrily but not with him. The last weeks and months did really gnaw on her. And here she had everything the pride could hope of. The one true king alive and well in shape. And he was refusing to fulfill his destiny. Nala walked after as she kept calling out to him.

"No no no, it doesn't matter. Hakuna matata!"

"What?" She tilted her head back having no idea what her friend was talking about.

Simba started padding back to her and suddenly grew a slight smile on his muzzle. "Hakuna matata! It's something I've learned out here. Look, sometimes bad things happen." Nala calling out his name fell completely on deaf ears as he continued. "And there's nothing you can do about it. So why worry?"

_If you really wanna be that way Simba, I can play that too. _She was getting angry with him but knew she couldn't push him to far, she really cared for him and didn't want to upset Simba more than necessary. "Because it's your responsibility!" Nala yelled at him.

_Responsibility! Who is she to come here and talk to me about responsibility? Speaking off… what is she even doing here if everybody needs ME at home? _He eyed her angrily and got right into her face. "And what about you? You left!"

"I left to find help. And I found you!" She was not going to lose this one. She had taken to many losses in her life by now. But she still wanted to be with him. "Don't you understand… you're our only hope!" Her eyes were filling with tears once again. It was like talking to a complete stranger.

Simba inhaled deeply before and his voice went completely cold. "Sorry!" Was all he said before he continued on his walk.

The cream lioness' heart dropped with an instant. There had to be something she could do to make him know what the right thing was. But she felt completely lost here. "What happened to you? You're definitely not the Simba I remember." Her eyes narrowed together and she frowned as sadness filled her mind.

He didn't change his stern expression as he answered. "You're right. I'm not. Now, are you satisfied?"

But Nala was far away from being satisfied. As a matter of fact, she had enough of this nonsense. _Alright Simba, two can play this game._ "No! Just disappointed." She mumbled angrily.

The two lions glanced at each other for a while. It was almost as the fresh found love and comfort they had found in each other had completely vanished. But still Simba kept his expression. "You know, you starting to sound like my father." He grunted as he tried to bring as much distance between him and the lioness.

"Good! At least one of us does." Nala retorted not backing off one bit.

And that hurt Simba as his face grew wide. She had definitely gone to far. Bringing his father in this was the one thing that could have brought Simba out of his composure. He eyed the lioness showing all the pain and the emotion he had boiling up for the last years. "LISTEN, YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST SHOW UP AND TELL ME HOW TO LIVE MY OWN LIFE! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!"

Suddenly, Nala felt her heart make a drop. She could tell that she really hurt him. And she realized, this was not about her, it was about him. Nala tried to calm Simba down. "I would if you'd just tell me." She said pleading forgetting about her own pride for a while.

But Simba kept walking away. "FORGET IT!" He snapped which caused Nala to gain back her sharpness.

"FINE!"

* * *

><p>The night settled over the pride lands as well as in the jungle, although, the animals could not really tell since the sky only changed into different shades of grey by now. Tama and Nafsi walked up to the cave in which the pride rested for the nights. Both lionesses were exhausted as their tongues were nearly brushing over the floor. The tarnish lioness dropped right beside her golden furred pride member after they reached the rest of the fellow friends. "Running!" Tama sighed between heavy breaths. "Nothing but running… and hunting… for the whole day." She was barely able to stand on her front legs and keep her sitting position.<p>

Not far from her was Sarabi who glanced over at the hunting party. They all had the same expressions on her face like the tarnish/orange lioness. Her gaze then went over to the mouth of the den where Scars right hand Zira entered the scene. Sarabi immediately made eye contact with Kimae and Subira who gave her a comforting nod.

"Sarabi!" The tarnish lioness said stern with her yellow eyes trying to melt the former queen from the inside. Zira stopped just a few feet in front of the pride glancing around with her typical arrogant manner. "I see that your pride is lacking in the ability to bring back some prey." She said eyeing Tama and Nafsi with despise before facing Sarabi again. "Would you care to explain yourself!"

The beige lioness stared at her 'superior' with the same calm and reserve she brought up against Scar for lots of times. "Since the herds have left and the pride lands have gone out of water, there's nothing left for us to hunt." She said without raising or sinking her voice. Her orange eyes still held the strength and pride which lead her through all the misery of the last years.

Zira padded back and forth in front of her as a nasty grin appeared on her face. "I see! Yet I wonder what Scar thinks about your little excuses." She said getting her eyes back on the same level as Sarabis.

"I guess the king has to accept it. If you want… we can go straight over to him. I bet he would love to be stripped from his sleep only for you to tell him that we're not able to bring back food to pride rock." The former queen said with her head hanging high and a slight smirk appearing on her muzzle. "What's it going to be Zira?"

The tarnish lioness growled seeing as how Sarabi dared to knock the wind out of her little threat. She went into a pouncing position ready to strike at the former queen with all her power. But it was then that Tama, Subira and the rest of the pride walked right beside their leader showing that their unison still had to be broken. "I wonder if the hyenas are still awake to aid you in your little quest." Subira remarked giving off a laugh herself.

Right in the moment when Spotty and Dotty had joined their friend to snarl at the other lionesses, Zira shot Sarabi another death glare before backing off. With quick steps, she walked out of the cave followed by her two friends. Zira waited until they were out of reach before Zira started talking again. "I don't like this one bit. This newfound strength inside the pride has defiantly to do with Nala disappearing." She then turned around to her friends. "Let the hyenas run patrols across the border. I want to know when she gets back into the kingdom."

"What about them?" Spotty asked stern and tilted her head back towards the cave.

"Leave them to me! I'm going to bring their last hopes to an end by tomorrow."

Back inside the cave, Sarabi had the other lionesses gather around her as she spoke out to them. "I want you all to stop go hunting tomorrow. I'm sick of Zira, Scar and the hyenas dictating our lives. We'll see who can endure more time without food. Us… or the hyenas."

* * *

><p>Nala had to cool down for a moment. Her anger about the behavior, Simba had put on earlier was still fresh and painful. Slashing her claws into the wood of a tree, close to where she and Simba had departed earlier, seemed like a good idea in that moment to blow out some steam. <em>You don't know what I've been through! S<em>he remembered what Simba was saying to her earlier. _I don't know what you've been through? You have no idea what I'VE been through! Do you know how painful it is to see everybody that you care about just leave in front of you until nobody is left? What it's like to be forced into marrying the one lion that is probably responsible for the destruction of our home? No. You. DON'T!_

With her last though, she broke a huge chunk of bark crushing off the tree before she turned away from her victim. The cream lioness swiped away a tear as she glanced over the jungle that surrounded her. A shimmer of violet light reached the corner of her eyes and she raised her muzzle to the sky. It was already dawning.

_Why am I still here? If he doesn't want to help, that's fine with me. So why don't just go somewhere else? _Nala kept asking herself as she wandered through the thicket her head hanging low. She sighed in frustration. _Because I can't. They rely on me, they rely on him. _She once again thought about her pride back at home and how she gave them her promise. She promised to return with help. And here she found Simba, the one true king. And thinking about him. _Hugh_… _I… I… I think I love him._ She continued as her mind drifted back to her golden friend.

Nala started glancing around the jungle questioning where Simba had been gone to. Maybe a fresh start on things would help him see things a bit more clearly. But where could she start finding him. And then it hammered into her head. _Why not talk to his friends?_ She thought and darted off through the lines of trees.

Simba had told her where the trio used to sleep during his time here. It was not that far away from her position. With swift and silent movement, the lioness rushed across the jungle until she spotted the meerkat and the warthog sleeping on a small clearing. She approached them carefully as she nudged Timon with her paw. "Hey, hey wake up!"

Slowly, the meerkat turned around with still sleepy eyes as he glanced into the huge face of a lioness. "AAAAAHHHHH!" He started to scream immediately followed by his warthog buddy as Nala shrugged back.

"It's okay, It's okay, whoa, calm down… clam down… it's me!" She finally managed to calm the two animals in front of her. Timon, being completely out of breath, stepped off from Pumba facing the lioness.

"Don't you ever do that again… carnivores… oohh!"

Nala had to frown at the last comment but she had no time to worry about them. She had to find him. "Have you guys seen Simba?"

"I thought he was with you." The meerkat answered rubbing the back of his head. Nala could feel the lack of trust and the reproach which Timon send over to her.

The cream lioness thought it would be the best to keep it low from her side. "He was but… now I can't find him. Where is he?" She asked showing her concern about her friend. Laughter to her left made all three of them turn around towards a tree where they spotted and old looking mandrill smiling down on them.

"Yu won't find im her'! De king… has returned." He said with a bow.

Nalas eyes widened immediately as she realized. _Rafiki! You are indeed a genius. _Simba _might already be back on his way to pride rock_. Emotions of joy were running through her body and she couldn't hold it. "I can't believe it, he's going back." She called out as she glanced back at the two animals in front of her with a broad smile.

Timon however, was even more confused than he was when he first met Nala. "Okay, what's going on here? Who's the monkey?"

* * *

><p>By the time, Rafiki informed Nala and his friend about what Simba was up to, the golden lion was already on his way towards the desert. He reached the field of yellow grass which was positioned just outside the jungle and stopped for a short moment as he observed the yellow colored sandy landscape which lay in front of him. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing else but desert.<p>

Simba turned around and looked back at the life he was leaving behind in order to regain his old and original life. Hs mind drifted off to Nala. _I should have told her first. She was trying to bring me back in the first place. _He regretted yelling and snapping at her earlier. All she tried to do was helping him. But then he realized something else. _It is my responsibility. I can't take the risk of her getting hurt or worse in this. I just love her to much. _Love her to much. That about summed it up how he felt about his cream furred friend. He was not going to let others suffer for his mistakes.

He inhaled deeply and entered the open field. It was close to dawn and the sky was filled in the typical red and orange light. At this point, return was no longer an option.

Nala on the other was again growling in disappointment. _Those two are just as stubborn as Simba. 'He shouldn't have left us?' What does that have to do with him becoming what he truly is? _The cream lioness really started to hate this hakuna matata thing. As much as she would have loved to put those two animals in their places, her priority at this moment was Simba. She had to catch up with him, at all costs.

But how was she able to catch up with a full grown male. The sun stood high in the air once again and burned down on her coat. Nala tried to keep walking in western direction. Exactly the opposite way she had gone before. The undersides of her paws hurt while she hammered them in the hot sand. In the distance, she spotted yet another strange scene. Five dark colored spots were spread all over the ground just a few yards away. Nala approached them with quick steps but still kept her caution.

As she got close enough, she realized what was happening in front of her. Five vultures were lying and sitting on the ground as they held their backs and cheeks in pain. One of them limped in front of the lioness as she raised one of her eyebrows. "What happened to you guys?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side.

"Ahh… some guys really can't take a joke these days." The black feathered bird said and dropped to the ground.

Nala observed him carefully seeing as the male bird had received several smacks on the back. "Who roughed you up?"

The vulture glanced up to her with tired eyes. "Some lion. Little Marv here was lucky that he only got caught by his left wing. Those damn felines! No offense sweetheart. He mumbled something about… getting a second air and… advanced endurance!" He stretched his back as he tried to walk off a cramp.

As the bird kept talking, Nalas eyes grew wide realizing what was going on. _That was definitely him. Simba has gone right through here. _"A lion you say! Which way did he go?" She asked with enthusiasm as Larry glanced at her with annoyance.

"Oh alright… I don't want to be the party pooper here. He went that way." He pointed with his right wing in to the west.

Nala gave the bird a quick 'thank you' as she started sprinting in the same direction she was told Simba was heading. She had no idea what the deal with Simba and these vultures has been, and she kind felt sorry for them. But this showed that her friend was ready to fight for everything that was dear to him.

Baffled and demoralized was the right word for the situation in which the vultures found themselves in right now. Marv glanced around his friends letting his wings drop to his hips. "Well… that's it for tonight folks. Enjoy our next programming with sportscenter coming up." With that, he dropped onto his beck as he lost his conscious.

Neither of them noticed the red warthog and the meerkat passing by as the duo glanced down on the group of black feathered birds which they have teased for so many times. "Hey Timon! What happened to those guys?" Pumbaa asked looking up at his friend. Timon shrugged with his shoulders and raised his arms.

"I guess the audience didn't like the program."

* * *

><p>Simba had finally reached the border of the pride lands. His gaze wandered over the field of briars that served as a neutral barrier between the kingdom and the lands which lay just beside. The golden lion breathed slowly and climbed through the thicket. The brambles were cutting in his fur yet were not doing any damage. To him, it took him almost an eternity until he got out of the field and made his way up the slope.<p>

The golden lion stopped at an instant as he padded around a corner and realized where his path had led him. Simba found himself back in the same gorge where his life had taken its sinister turn. Everywhere he looked, he could see the leftovers of the stampede where his father died. Slowly and with a heavy heart, Simba walked forward until he reached the broken up tree where he last saw the former king Mufasa. Nowhere he looked, he could see the body of his dad. It must have already turned to grass, even though there was no grass to be seen within miles.

The dry wood was broken into various smithereens and was spread all over the place. Simba placed his paw on the wood as he closed his eyes and rested for a minute. He then tilted his head up as he looked at the sky. _This is for you dad._ With that, the golden lion continued walking through _his _kingdom. Slowly, he climbed out of the gorge as he faced the even grassland which had turned grey and brown. Simbas heart dropped immediately as his mind was filled with sadness.

"What have they done?" He asked out loud.

"Who are you?"

Simba whipped his head around to come face to face with three male hyenas. Their eyes turned red in blood thirst as they observed the lion in front of them. "We actually expected someone else to come across these path but… you'll do just fine for now." One of them said and the grey animals stated storming at Simba.

By using his right back leg, the male lion caught one of the hyenas in mid air sending it flying head first into a rock. The second one jumped on Simbas back as he tried to sink its teeth into the lion's neck. Simba leaped backwards as he rammed the hyena into the same boulder the first one had landed in. After he was finished with them, the third one growled viciously while jumping at Simba. He simply dodged the attack as the hyena collided with the rock just like the other two.

"How where these guys able to take over the pride lands?" Simba said confused but continued on his way. As he made his way through his home, he noticed the lack of hyenas and lionesses he spotted on his way, except for the little incident moments ago. Considering what Nala told him, the lionesses must have been on the hunt for nearly the whole day. They certainly would come across this place. What he knew from his memory, he was only a few miles away from pride rock. And as he went around a corner, he saw the once majestic looking castle standing like an eternal sign on the horizon. Once again his heart sunk as he saw the grey air and the brown earth which once was so full of green.

* * *

><p>In the meantime, no one at pride rock had an idea of the events happening around Simba and Nala. Yet, things were a bit different from what they used to be. While the hyenas were sleeping around the huge rock formation, the lionesses were going just as Sarabi had told them the night before. The pride refused to go hunting this day. A situation that made the king be even more intense than usual.<p>

Scar trotted back and forth in front of his cave as he thought about the situation. _Mutiny, insurrection! I should have disposed Sarabi when I had the chance. No I have a bunch of hungry hyenas lying around here with nothing to do. And on top of that a pride is denying any sign of my authority. _The king heard paw steps behind him and came face to face with Zira who glanced at him upset and with anger. "They're still refusing." She mumbled through gritted teeth.

"I know!" Scar muttered annoyed turning his face away from her.

Zira indeed was not happy with that answer. She stepped closer making extra noise with her paws to draw the kings' attention. "And?" She asked as she tried to stare the male lion down.

For a while, none of the lions said any word before Scar finally had enough of it. "And… what?" He asked mocking and still annoyed.

"WHAT? You're the king. Isn't it your duty to keep the hunts going? And what do you do? You sit here and let them do what they want." She shouted out to him. It wasn't so much her anger and disappointment of his behavior, but more the thought about Sarabi getting through with her will. Not to mention the huge hunger she felt for the last days. The tarnish lioness narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

But Scar was merely unimpressed. "You know! Right now, I can't decide if you're a hyena or one of Sarabis lionesses." His muzzle was only inches away from hers. "You're complaining just like one of those poachers out there." He walked a few steps back before he turned his head back at her. "You want to eat? GO HUNT!" He yelled out loud.

Zira glanced at him a mix of disappointment and anger. She couldn't believe what he said to her. Of all the lions in this kingdom, he was the one which meant the most to her. And now he was comparing her with a hyena. It really hurt her to have her king speak about her like that. The tarnish lioness wanted to say something but couldn't bring her thoughts together. She stormed out of the den hurt in her feelings.

Outside of the den, Spotty and Dotty waited for their friend to leave the royal chamber. The two had settled down as they glanced over the clan of hyenas lying all around the castle. Yet neither of them moved a muzzle until they spotted Zira storming out of the cave. She passed the two younger lionesses with a stony expression and not facing them for one second. "Follow me!" She snapped and stormed away from pride rock.

"Where are we going?" Spotty asked a bit confused trying to follow her.

"We're going to hunt." Zira answered cold and quick,

Both Spotty and Dotty twisted her heads to face each other not really understanding what was going on. "Us, hunt? Why are we supposed to hunt? What about Sarabi and her lionesses?" Dotty called out to her older friend shrugging her shoulders not understanding.

Zira stopped and looked back at the grey lionesses giving them the same annoyed and angry look she gave Scar moments ago. "Our… KING, has decided to sit this crisis out without any participation to solve this problem." He eyes were completely filled with the exact same disappointment that once filled Sarabi. "And since he is refusing to do anything about the situation, we have to take care of our own."

* * *

><p>Simbas scent was getting stronger which caused Nala to pick up her pace. She finally managed to enter back into the pride lands and walk through the gorge where her golden furred friend was named dead for all this time. Something which kept her mind occupied for the whole way through the desert. <em>Why would Scar say that Simba was dead if he wasn't?<em> _What was his deal in this situation? _Scar not having his paws in anything that was happening was a thought which Nala shoved aside a long time ago. It all fitted together. She was not quite sure where Simba and his refuse to tell her the truth fit in.

As she made it out of the gorge, she spotted three male hyenas being roughed up and stapled beside a boulder. She immediately could tell that Simba had passed by here. The cream furred lioness continued to move through the kingdom with her body keeping low. Having to walk over the dried out grey grass with her shiny cream body was definitely not the way of hiding properly. She could smell that Simba was less than a mile in front of her.

The lioness glanced around in alert and frowned at the scenes she spotted all over her home. There was no hint of a hyena and a lioness being even close to her. Everywhere she looked, she found no one. It was a situation which made her feel uncomfortable. _Am I to late? What has Scar done with them? _But then she spotted a golden body in the distance and her heart immediately jumped. If it wouldn't have been for her mind to be alert on its highest level, Nala would have screamed out to Simba at once. But she had to wait until she was close enough for him to hear her call in a normal voice. She had no interest in the two being spotted just miles away from their home.

As Nala approached the former prince from behind, she noticed the sadness and the anger that was building up inside him. She could hear his heavy breathing as he was probably completely taken aback of what had happened to his kingdom. The cream lioness picked up her pace as she wanted to reach Simba before he was going to run down towards pride rock.

"SIMBA! WAIT UP!" She yelled out as she was just yards away from him.

The male lion was about to step down from a rock as he heard the familiar voice of his cream furred friend who came running over to his position. Although he was happy to see her again, regretting how he reacted earlier in the jungle, he still had some doubts about Nalas presence. He was not ready to sacrifice the lioness he was deeply in love with for something he was the cause of it. But she was no standing with him now, and that was all that matters. _It's not like she was going to listen to me about staying back safe anyway. _He sighed before he faced her once again.

"It's awful! Isn't it?" She said as she stopped to his left and glancing down herself on the land to their feet.

Awful wasn't even getting close to what Simba would call the pride lands now. He couldn't believe what his uncle had driven his home into. As a matter of fact, he didn't want to believe. "I didn't want to believe you!" he admitted seeing as there was nothing to hide right now.

Seeing as she now had the golden lion on her side, she had to ask this. "What made you come back?" Nala knew that Rafiki had his hands in this. But something must have happened with Simba out of the sudden which made him finally get a grip on reality.

Simba glanced at her gently and sighed. "I finally got some sense knocked into me. And I've got the bump to prove it." He rushed out the last sentence with a little sense of sarcasm. Then Simba directed his head into the distance as his voice filled with bravery. "Besides, this is _my_ kingdom. If I don't fight for it, who will?" He stepped forward ready to go down there and bring this crisis to an end.

It wasn't exactly the answer which Nala had requested, but it surely was one she wanted to hear. She now completely realized that Simba was serious about his intentions. Slowly she padded up to him and finally stood side by side with him. "I'll follow you." She said warm as she showed her full support for her friend.

The golden male already expected something like that from her. Even if he disliked the idea of Nala getting involved in the fight to come, he needed her by his side. "It's gonna be dangerous!" He said knowing that there was no way of talking her out of this one.

A sly smirk appeared on her face as she giggled a little. "Danger? HA! I laugh in the face of danger. Ha ha ha ha!" She twisted her head around and faked a mocking laugh. Both lions glanced at each other as another smirk appeared on Simbas muzzle.

"You still remember that huh!" He asked flatly.

"I always will!" Nala replied gently.

* * *

><p>Without having any idea of what was going on in the middle of his kingdom, Scar laid down in his cave as he kept thinking about the lionesses' refusal. The redbrown had settled himself in the middle of the room on the ground as he brushed with one of his claws over the cold stony ground in the cave. The conversation with Zira early on was still running fresh through his memory. As much as he hated to admit it, he still needed her. She was the rightful choice for an heir to his throne; a real heir, not this incompetent failure which dared to call himself his son. And therefore, he couldn't risk her to lose her loyalty to him.

Zira and her two friends, he could never tell apart, had been a useful information pool over the last few years. Losing them in his fight to contain the lionesses would be an irreparable damage. He had never thought about actually doing it but… he decided to make up to her later on once she returned from her hunt.

And speaking of the hunts… seeing as Sarabi was the middle point of all the problems he had over the last months, he needed to take care of her before she was going to cause any more trouble. _But how am I doing that. I can't kill her. I won't kill her. But there has to be some way to break her rebellious behavior for good._ The wheels inside his head were turning as he thought about the beige lioness and her style of handling problems.

_I have to humiliate her. Expose her. Make her be vulnerable in front of the whole pride._ His eyes started to widen as his plan was finally growing form inside his head. A smile spread over his face and the king got up on his paws. He finally had an idea of how to break the lionesses' resistance for good. Scar padded determined and quickly out of the cave. His head hang high as he walked up to the end of the path which lead up to the huge ledge of pride rock. The king could already see the hyenas getting to their feet as they spotted him coming up to the edge. He breathed heavily before yelling out her name.

"SARABI!" His voice haled through the air and his echo could be heard from everywhere near the castle.

* * *

><p>The lionesses rushed up their heads as they heard the voice of their king haling through the air. Nafsi and Sabini immediately let her ears drop to the side of their heads. From the sound of his voice, she could tell that Scar was being serious this time. Sarabi went to her feet with her orange orbs showing her concern for this harsh call of her name. Just as the former queen started walking into the kings' direction, it was Himaya who rushed to her side and glared into the direction where the call came from in disgust.<p>

But Sarabi right away raised one of her paws signaling to her friend to stand down. "Not this time. This one I have to do on my own." She said placing a paw on Himayas shoulder.

Tama, her mother and Kimae watched after their leader with tension on her faces. They knew that their actions would cause Scar to punish them. But the way Sarabi ordered her 'bodyguard' to stay behind kinda felt like a farewell. "Don't you think we should come with you? He sounded serious. With the developments of the last days, it wouldn't surprise me if he ran completely nuts this time." Tama called out to her ready to jump into action.

"As much as he wants to, he can't kill me. He knows that he soon would have a kingdom full of hyenas and without lionesses. A situation he wanted to avoid from the beginning." She turned around to face her pride with her eyes full of love for the leftovers of her family. "As far as I see it, he has a choice to make. Leave pride rock… or get rid of the hyenas. And this is what I wanted to achieve for days now." She replied taking her lionesses by surprise.

Subira stood up and eyed Sarabi curious. "Your plan included the possibility of us leaving pride rock?"

The former queen nodded but kept a stern expression. "The herds have left this kingdom a long time ago. Even though he doesn't admit it, Scar is exactly as hungry as we are. And since dying is the least thing he wants to do, besides stepping down as king, he has no other choice than to decide for us to move on." She had better plans in the past to achieve her goals. And she knew that it was risky to confront the king with such a thing. But time was running out for the pride and things needed to be done. With a last look and an encouraging smile, Sarabi continued on her way to face Scar.

"Does she really believe this plan will work?" Subira asked out loud not really wanting an answer in return. "It's a big vague to me!" She added sitting down right beside her daughter.

"She seems serious about leaving this place; I wonder what Scar will have to say about this." Nafsi added facing the ground.

"Scar is not going to do anything by the end of the day!" A voice behind the pride appeared and the lionesses twirled their heads around to look at the source of it. Immediately, their eyes widened and their faces lit up as they spotted their lost cream furred member rushing down to where they had settled down.

Tama immediately got to her feet and stepped forward. "NALA!" She shouted as she nearly jumped at her friend as the two came close enough. The two lionesses nuzzled each other while the rest of the pride joined in on them. "You returned!" The tarnish/orange lioness again said as she let go of Nala.

"Yes! I'm back! But we don't have time for this right now. We have to get up there and help him." The cream lioness said as she turned around towards their castle.

The others just stood there now confused. "What do you mean HIM? Have you found somebody to fight Scar?" Sabini asked with her blue eyes wide open.

Nala glanced back at her as a huge smile appeared on her face. "Oh yes! I have found someone. And you will not believe when I tell you who I found."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong> Thank god this is over. I must tell you; this was a pain in the butt. Thank god I had a week off from my job during Easter. It gave me enough time to make good progress on the story and have the chapters 12, 13 and 14 finished with one week advanced. Without that, this chapter would have killed me. I'm still not satisfied with it at all. But giving the current status, I think I can't even make it much better.

SportsCenter is property of ESPN (which is property of ABC, which is property of The Walt Disney Company which also owes the lion king) and is not owned by me.


	15. Showdown

What's up!

So here we are… the end to the first part of Heirs. Thanks to all of you who commented and reviewed this one. Also a thank you to those who have added the story to their alerts and favorites. And of course the people that send me PM's.

**RELDOR:** I actually knew that the song was sung by the tokens. But in my sloppiness I forgot to mention it at the end.

But there's still one more to go. Let's dig into it.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 15: showdown<span>

Dark clouds stood over pride rock and filled the whole kingdom with darkness. Thunder could be heard from everywhere around the gigantic boulder in the middle of the pride lands. The lightning already struck twice. It was almost as if the weather knew that a storm was soon coming over the kingdom of former king Mufasa.

"So let me get this straight!"Tama said rubbing the sides of her head with her paws. "Simba, who we all thought was dead for the last three years, has been alive and well all this time. And he lived safe and sound in a jungle that lay on the other side of the desert?" She asked at her cream colored friend who had just informed them about Simba engaging in a battle for pride rock at any moment.

Nala raised her eyebrow at the tarnish/orange while glancing over the rest of the pride. "That's what I just said didn't I?" She answered dry.

"And he has returned to fight Scar for the throne is about this moment all on his own?" Sabini then added but received the same stare from Nala like Tama did moments ago.

The cream lioness shook her head and turned the side of her body towards her friends. "He won't be for much long if we don't get up there and help him. He needs every one of us to oppose the hyenas." Just like she did with Timon and Pumbaa, Nala didn't wait for a response from her pride and started walking up the path leading to pride rock. Soon after she made a few steps into the castles direction, she turned around looking at the hesitating lionesses. "What's wrong? This is what we've all been waiting for over the last years." She demanded at the group. "This was the reason why Sarabi send me away in the first place. And now you getting second thoughts. It's now or never!"

It took a few seconds before Sabini and Tama ran up to her and gave Nala a supporting nod. Soon the whole pride joined them and the lionesses ran over to wher they hoped Simba was. Nala immediately noticed that all the hyenas had left the field which lay to the feet of their home. From top of pride rock, she could hear Scar yelling and Sarabi giving contra to the king. She had to make it up there a quickly as possible. The female lioness was at the feet of the ledge as Nala heard a smacking and blunt sound from above and then noticed Simba appearing on top of yet another path with his teeth bared growling down on the scene. "Hurry!" She called back at her friends and stormed upwards.

Nala then quickly made it to the edge and her face tensed up. Sarabi lay on the ground with Simba standing over her protectively as both of members of the royal family stared at the king with fury. "Sarabi!" Nala whispered which mad the former queen tilt her head around once more.

Her eyes lit up as she spotted the younger lioness slowly getting on the ledge and padding over to her. "I knew you would make it!" Sarabi answered and smiled at Sarafinas daughter.

Soon, Tama and the rest were beside them as Nalas orange furred friend caught her first glimpse of the prince. _Whoa! He has really grown over the years! And I kinda like it. _Tama thought to herself but had no more time to observe the golden male. She quickly got to Sarabis side and helped her up.

In front of the group, Nala could hear Scar arguing with Simba. "Oh, oh ye… Well, I would, heh… however, there is one little problem." He pointed his paw to the top of the wall he was standing against in that moment. "You see them? They think I AM the king!"

Nala followed the direction in which their current king was pointing and her heart sank a bit. She knew they had to face the hyena clan in order to win this battle. But now as she finally saw all of them standing behind Scar. She realized how many hyenas there were in the pride lands. Yet, the cream lioness had not intentions of moving backwards. Like she said, it was now or never. _Time to see if he has already forgotten me. _Nala raised her voice as she spoke up. "Well, WE don't. Simba is the rightful king."

This made Scar shift his attention from Simba to the lionesses. At this moment he kinda understood what had been going on over the last days. _Sarabi must have planned this all along. Nala had not left, she got send out to find someone who could oppose me. And of all the lions out there, she found my supposed dead nephew. Sure she didn't do that on her own. Someone must have helped her. _For a short moment his pupils widened as he realized. _That… baboon!_

But the king had no time to think further as he was already confronted by Simba. The golden lion gave Nala a comforting smile before he turned his face back at his uncle. "The choice is yours Scar. Either step down… or fight." He threatened him.

If Scar had to choose, he would have gone after his three hyena servants on the spot. But right now, the sight of Simba was trouble enough. For a short moment, Scar was completely taken aback. But if he wanted to get out of this, he had to take an offensive approach. _Let's see if you are as self-confident as you seem to be._ "Oh! Must it all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you agree Simba?" He asked as he started to smirk and passed by Simba.

But the golden lion was not whiling to let his uncles mind games get to him. "That's not going to work Scar. I've put that behind me." His expression was stern and determined.

Yet the red/brown lion kept walking as he approached Sarabi and the lionesses. He noticed Nala shivering a little as he eyed her with his green intense eyes. "Ah… but what about your faithful subjects, have they put it behind _them?" _He stopped a few feet away from Simbas mother and Nala and threw a mocking and nasty smirk at them.

Although Nala stood her ground without any motion on the outside, she was shivering and unsure on the inside. Especially in the moment as Scar locked his eyes on her. But as much as she wanted to ignore him, her eyes wandered off to Simba who was no staring at her nervously. "Simba, what is he talking about?

The king turned away from them and trotted back into the direction of his nephew. "Ahh, so you haven't told them your little secret. Well Simba, now's your chance to tell them." Scar continued as the golden male kept a stern glare at the king. "Tell them who is responsible for Mufasa's death." He shouted out forcing Nala and the rest of the pride look at samba with huge eyes.

_Here it goes; this is the moment I've feared all this years. _Simba knew he had to face this sooner or later. But there was still a heavy heart bumping inside his chest. _Now or never! _"I am!" He finally said completely shocking his mother and the rest of his family. Normally, he would have felt relieved because he had finally let out his darkest secret. But he didn't. Instead he glanced over to his mother and Nala who looked at him with wide eyes of shock. But Simba couldn't hold his focus as he already saw his mother padding over to him.

The beige lioness stared at him with her ears laid flatly to her head and her eyes full of grief. "It's not true; tell me it's not true." She said but had a problem bringing the words out of her mouth.

As the male saw his mother glancing over at him, it took nearly all the courage, Simba had gathered over the last hours, away. It hurt him deeply to see her getting her heart ripped out like that a second time. "It is true!" He replied and bowed his head giving in to the grief.

Behind them, Nala understood everything. Why Simba refused to talk about what happened in the gorge. Why he refused to come back home, why he denied the fact that he was the king. _Sometimes bad things happen… and there's nothing you can do about it._ She remembered him saying back. It was guilt that Simba felt about his father's death. And here he stood, in the middle of this mess with Scar throwing all those feelings at him while his friends were asking of him to fulfill his duty as king. She felt two paws getting in contact with her shoulders as Tama and Sabini approached her from behind.

"Didn't you two talk about it when you met?" She asked concerned.

Nala could feel the slight mistrusting tone in her friends' voice which caused her to shake up her head and face her. "No we didn't! But are you honestly going to believe _him." _Nala answered and nodded her head in the direction of her king. "Even if Simba is responsible for Mufasas death, I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose." She remarked with the strength back in her voice. "I would follow Simba everywhere, and that includes opposing Scar at any time. And I can't believe that you would doubt Simba who came all this way to help us knowing that he had to face his demons of the past. I now understand" She raised her voice and now talked all of the pride.

"AHHH!"

The cream lioness heard Simba call in the distance and twisted her head just in time to see Simba fall over the ledge of pride rock. A lightning struck down on the ground right beside pride rock. Immediately the dry grass all around the place started to catch fire and started burning. The air was filled with a threatening looking red light.

"SIMBA!" She called out frightened and stormed into his direction. But Nala didn't get far as her path was blocked by several hyenas. Shenzi was the first one to growl at her as she stared at the huge grey barrier in front of her. "You better get out of my way." The female threatened the hyena with growls.

"Oh Really 'Beautiful', you and which army?" She asked mocking.

Nala looked behind her and found the lionesses still hesitating to help their prince.

"NOOOOOO! MURDERER!" She then heard Simba scream as he was now standing over Scar and pressed his paw down on the kings' throat. Scar was whispering something into Simbas ear but only received another angry growl from the golden male.

But then, the king raised his voice as he stared straight into his nephews eyes with bitterness and cold. "I KILLED MUFASA!"

Within seconds, hell broke loose. All the lionesses stormed forward to attack the hyenas with Nala leading the charge. She had to get to Simba who was getting overrun by the grey animals. She quickly slapped Shenzi across the face and sent her flying through the air. With all her strength, she fought her way through the lines of enemies as she hit another hyena going for Simbas throat with her right front paw.

Simba got to his feet and stared into Nalas aqua eyes. "Thank you!" He said simply. But then his expression narrowed as he kicked another two of the grey animals on the muzzle as they were about to hammer their teeth into the lionesses back.

"Thank _you!"_ She retorted smiling. Another hyena tried to jump them but got thrown through the air as a red furred warthog stormed through the masses of carnivores battling each other. He passed the two lions who glanced at each other confused. "You learn to love them!" Nala said sarcastically as she smirked at Simba.

Tama stood on the other side of the ledge fighting off three of Scars minions as she stood side by side with the queen. She used her head to shove off one hyena from Sarabi before biting down on another ones neck. Because of that, she never saw the one that was sneaking up behind her and jumped straight at her. All tama could do now was turn her head and watch in shock as the hyena bit down on her neck. With Sarabi unable to move, another three hyenas enclosed on the tarnish/orange lioness. Tama could feel the live leaving her. But then she spotted a pale golden flash who ripped her three attackers away from her.

As she looked up, she saw in the confident faces of Sabini and Nafsi who growled at the hyenas with furious faces. Sarabi on the other side was still pinned down by the grey animals before she herself got rescued by Himaya and Kimae. The former queen looked up at them, exhausted but okay. "Till the end your majesty." Himaya said warm and helped her queen to her feet once more.

Tama then spotted Nala and Simba working together with her mother as they drove the hyenas off from pride rock one by one. Each and every one of the grey animals stormed away from the ledge until only the lionesses and their friends were standing. The flames were getting higher and higher as Simba finally had time to watch for Scar and put an end to his reign.

The golden male jumped on a higher level and then spotted his uncle in the distance. He was trying to sneak away on the path that lead to the summit of the castle. A cream flash appeared in front of him as Nala tried to give chase to the red/brown lion. But he quickly ran over to her and stopped her from going further. "This is something I have to do on my own." He said as he faced his friend. "The fire is getting bigger and bigger, watch over the pride and get out of here where it's safe." He said giving her a quick lick on her forehead and then stormed off after Scar.

Nala wasted no time and moved back to the rest of the pride who were driving the hyenas even more far away from their home. The cream lioness twisted her head to the side taking a glimpse of the flames that came closer and closer towards pride rock. Simba was right; they had to leave this place at once. Quickly, she ran over to her queen who was joined by Subira and Tama. "We should get going. Not for long and this whole thing will be engulfed with fire." Nala remarked demanding.

It was by now that Sarabi realized what was going on around her. She eyed Nala carefully before nodding her head carefully. "We could use the path to the back. The rocky walls there may protect us from the fire moving forward." With that she gave out a roar and the rest o the pride immediately ran over to her.

Nearly all of the hyenas had vanished from the giant rocky castle. Only the lionesses were left by now. The beige female ran over to a side path of pride rock as she glanced back to her fellow members to follow. Quickly, they made their way through the narrow rock passages before vanishing from the front of the scene.

As Nala was about to follow the rest of the lionesses, she tilted her head upwards hearing growls and yells from above. But there was no time for her as she could see a huge wall of fire approaching and now being only a few inches away from her back. The heat was nearly unbearable and she quickly followed her friends through that narrow corridor.

_[On the top of pride rock.]_

Simba shoved his uncle away from him with his paws. Even though Simba had more muscles than Scar, the fact that he was raised by a meerkat and a warthog and ha only been eating grubs for the last years really messed with his fighting skills. With the hyenas, he could make up his lack of skill with his size. But since he faced a full grown male lion here, the only thing he could compensate his disadvantage with heart. Yet Scar gained the upper hand as he smacked the golden male continuously with his left and right paws as Simba yelled out in pain.

But the younger lion countered with a left on his own which caused the red/brown lion to yell out in pain before he twisted his head to the side. Simba stormed forward trying to go for his uncles' neck. Yet he faceed a right swinger from Scar which let him tumble to the side for a few seconds. "Never expected this to happen huh young Simba? You thought you could come up here and just take MY THRONE!" Scar smirked and kicked his nephew in the side with his right back feet which made Simba land hard on the ground growling in pain.

Fire was surrounding them and the heat was unbelievable. "What a return would that be, the young prince who was betrayed by his own uncle and had to witness his father falling to his doom into a wildebeest stampede. I don't know how you survived the attack of my little minions, and frankly… I don't care. All care about is that after I take away your life, your adorable subjects will suffer in a way they could never imagine." He laughed menacing.

Yet Simba raised his head and stared at the king with a look that could kill. "Forget about that Scar. You won't do any more harm to anyone in this kingdom." He muttered under his heavy breath.

"We'll see about that!" Scar replied and smacked the golden furred male across the face to make Simba sail towards the edge of the summit. On his way through the air, Simba shot right through a wall of fire burning small parts of his fur at an instant. The younger lion lied on his back before glancing up at Scar jumping straight at him. _Big mistake!_ He thought as he clenched his teeth.

With both his back legs, he hit Scar on the stomach and sent him flying over the edge of the summit of pride rock. At once, he got to his feet and glanced down to where he saw Scar laying at the beginning of the ledge. Down below, the red/brown lion began to move which took Simba by surprise. But then he saw something that almost made him run down the path he came up.

The hyenas had gathered around the king who was standing against a wall. Simba couldn't hear what they were saying, but the nasty laughs escaping the grey animals were enough for him to understand. As he watched the hyenas turning on their king, Simba turned his head away not wanting to see what was going to happen.

Soon, the painful screams of Scar filled the whole area around pride rock as the giant mountain was wrapped in hot burning and red glowing fire.

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><p>The evening had turned dark due to the sky being covered with dark grey clouds. It was a rather unsettling scene which took place in the sky and could even be seen from the northern border of the pride lands. To any animal following the border of the home of king Scar, it was strange to see the side, which belonged to the pride lands being really dry and lacking plant and tree life. While on the other side of the border, the plants and woods were still left with some sort of life.<p>

Right in that moment, a young lion cub just a few months old climbed upwards a huge mountain which lay just beside the kingdom of Scar and delivered the best observing point of the area. The cubs' fur was of a pale caramel color, a little brown hair tuft lay on the top of its head. The young male was smiling as he jumped from small ledge to small ledge getting closer and closer to the top.

"Mbingu! What did I tell you about running that fast up the hill?" A rather young lioness with the same fur color called after the cub and followed the young lion up the mountain. She smiled gently at the young lion in front of her.

The cub turned around and laughed playfully at her. "Not to go that far away from an adult that is going to accompany me. And as you noticed, I'm not that far away from you cousin Niyani!" He said and stopped as he extracted his chest to his cousin.

Niyani couldn't help herself but to laugh at her younger cousin. _The kid sure has width._ She thought before shaking her head ion amusement. Out of the sudden, she felt movement beside her and didn't need to think twice to realize who it was. She glanced to the side and found a male lion in just about the same age then herself smiling down at the little cub. "I guess he's been hanging out with you and your friend for to long!" The pale caramel lioness smirked as she gave the male a quick shove with her right elbow.

The male lion had an ochre fur which was going tone in tone with a mane of the same color. "Mbingu! You know that technically, she and I had to come and catch up with you in order to not break the rules!" He called out knowing that he had caught the younger cub.

"Could be true!" The cub simply said continuing on his way to the summit. Niyani and Tojo followed him walking side by side.

"I hope that our cubs won't be that feisty when they reach his age." Tojo said in a mumbling tone as he smirked at the lioness right beside him. "Not that I'm thinking about having cubs with you yet." A sudden defensive tone appeared in his voice after he saw the frown on Niyani's face. "Not that you wouldn't make a great mother. It's just that… it's a bit early for us to think about something like that." Tojo smacked himself inside, he was sounding like Malka trying to avoid getting into trouble from having a loud mouth.

Niyani gave him a nuzzle to the side as she tried to release her mate from his situation. "I think I got the idea." She answered gently.

The three lions now had reached the summit where the bush had ended and allowed them to look over most of the pride lands and the lands lying north of it. The pale caramel lioness gazed over to her left until her eyes locked on the strange red/orange light at the horizon. "Hey Tojo! Look over there, what a strange sight." She said and nudged the ochre lion into the side with her elbow.

Tojo twisted his head as he followed the glare of his mate with curious eyes. He too then saw the light in the distance. The male rested his gaze on it for a few moments and realized that it was kind of… growing. "Hm… that doesn't seem like just some light, it looks more like… fire." Since no stars could be seen, due to the clouded sky, Tojo had a hard time to remember which direction the fire lay. But he had been up this mountain so often that he knew how to figure it out.

_Okay let's see! We passed the faru-river just a few moments ago. Now where is it? _He wandered with his eyes over the land until he spotted a black colored line going along to their right. _Ah, there it is. _He extracted his paws in front of his face and then placed them side by side and from right to left. _From this point we go five paws to the left until we reach… _His eyes widened as his right paw was now exactly directed at… _PRIDE ROCK! _With horror in his face, Tojo turned around and screamed. "MAAAALKAAAAA!"

"Jo-jo? JO-JO!" He heard his friend call in the back as the pale orange lion ran over to the trio his eyes wide and out of breath. "What's wrong?"

Tojo pointed his direction towards the fire. "LOOK!" He just yelled.

Malka narrowed his eyes glancing towards the red/orange light on the horizon. It took him a while before he realized and glared with wide open eyes at his ochre friend. "Oh great kings!" He stuttered as his and Tojos eyes met. Malka shifted his head around and started running down the mountain. Tojo looked at Niyani and Mbingo before turning his body away.

"Sorry Niyani, I got to check that out. Stay here where it's safe. Malka and I will return as soon as possible." Tojo didn't wait for a response from the lioness and the cub before he stormed off after Malka. The pale caramel lioness had no idea what was going on, all she could do was watch after the two males as they ran into the direction of the fire.

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><p>Simba lay on the top of pride rock for quite a while and with his eyes closed. The golden lion laid on his back as he was exhausted from the last hours and the events that had taken place in his life. The battle was over; he had won the fight for his kingdom and his destiny. His eyes were directed on the clouded sky. Then he felts something which made them close immediately. It was raining.<p>

Beside the path that led to the place the battle between Scar and Simba took place; the lioness too felt the relief that came with the water from the sky. Within seconds, the huge rock that was home to the kings' pride had been complete freed from the fire. Nala glanced up at the sky as she felt her face becoming completely water drained. Mostly from the rain coming from beyond, but also from the tears of joy that she felt. Scars screams of pain could be heard all around the place. The cream lioness then glanced around to check if everybody was okay.

As far as she could tell, everybody was there. Nafsi, Sabini were standing side by side letting the liquid from above cool their heated bodies down. Kulas and Chumvis mothers were standing alongside Kimae with the same direction. She then watched after Sarabi and quickly found her. But what she found let her heart drop for a moment.

The queen had her head directed to the ground as she glanced down on a lioness' body that was spread all over the floor. As Nala approached her the young lioness saw who it was. "Himaya!" Nala stuttered glancing down at her.

Himayas body was burned on several places and her left front leg was standing in an awkward position. Sarabi had to fight back some tears as she glanced at her most loyal lioness. With sorrow, she then pressed her right front paw on her still opened eyes and shoved them close. "Till the end!" Sarabi mumbled and connected her forehead with the dead lionesses' before she turned it away and faced Nala. "First things first, let's get to Simba. We do the rest later on."

The golden lion came walking but still being weak down the path as he came into view of _his _pride. His mane was hanging down from his head due to the rain still storming down from the sky above. He passed the huge ledge which lay to the right as he looked up to Zazu giving him a bow.

"Your majesty!" The blue hornbill said.

Simba then caught side of two lionesses who passed by him before he found his mother and Nala approaching him. He gave Sarabi a short touch on her head before the queen stepped aside and let room for Nala and Simba to nuzzle each other glad that it was over.

_[Miles away!]_

Tojo and Malka had just passed Zuburi-river which lay just north of the mangrove tree they passed a few months ago. The sight of their home being covered in flames made them completely forget about the fact that they both were banished from the kingdom months ago. And so they didn't care that were disobeying the law of king Scar. All they cared about was to get back to their home as fast as possible. As they passed a mountain to their left, Pride rock could be seen from far away, the flames had become even higher. But all that lay between Tojo, Malka and their castle was the huge veldt in front of pride rock.

"Pick up the pace Jo-jo! There's no time to lose." Malka called back to the ochre lion that fell a few feet behind.

"I'm right behind you buddy!" The ochre cub responded as pride rock bigger and bigger. Something made Tojos tail swing nervously and out of the sudden, his nose began to tickle. He came to a halt as he felt something he had not felt for years. "Malka! It's raining!" he called out to his friend who stopped on the spot and glanced back at Tojo.

Within seconds, the rain got so strong that it disposed of all the flames that happened around the giant rock formation. They looked into each other's eyes kinda dumbfounded because of the scene taking place. "Let's see if we can help." Malka replied as he signed for both of them to move forward.

By now they had gone into a trot and approached pride rock with a bit more care. Even though they had not seen a single hyena on their way through the pride lands, they could be everywhere guarding the castle and waiting to jump them at any minute. As they were close enough to see their former home in detail, they were relieved to see golden, cream and light brown figures moving across the ledge. Tojo was about to yell out to them as his eyes caught movement of something walking towards the edge of the ledge. He narrowed his eyes to see what it was.

The figure was definitely a lion, and it was a male lion. But he was to bulky to be Scar, and the color of his fur was rather golden. They marched forward and Tojo could now see the lion in all his details. And right then his mind went completely crazy and he had to hold on to his jaw or else it would have dropped to the ground. "Malka?" he asked his eyes little and locked on the male lion.

"Yes!" His pale orange friend answered with the same expression on his face.

"Do you see that?"

"Yes!"

"That fur color?"

"Yep!"

"Those eyes?"

"Clearly!"

"That red mane?"

"Of course!"

The male let out a roar from the ledge which haled through all of the pride lands and set his position as king. To Tojo and Malka, it was clear. Either Mufasa was growing young instead of old (besides having found a cure for dead), or the lion up there was the cocky prince they once knew and were friends with. "We better not just stare at him, we better move."

Upside pride rock, Simba moved away from his position and returned to the pride standing a few yards away from him. His mother was the first one to go to him and nuzzle him gently. "I'm so proud of you!" She whispered in his ear as she brought the side of her head together with his'. She soon backed away as Nala and Tama walked up to him giving him both a hug.

Soon, the whole pride was standing in line to welcome their new king. But in the middle of it, Simba backed away and raised his muzzle into the sky. Nala and Tama glanced at him with confusion until the golden male glared to the path that lead from the bottom of pride rock to the position they were in right now. The male lion narrowed his eyes as he spotted two males coming up the path and smiling at the pride.

At once, Nalas Tamas and Sabinis eyes widened and their muzzles grew huge smiles. But the joy was spoiled as Simba jumped protectively in front of his pride. "WHO ARE YOU?" He called challenging and caused the two males to stop on the spot. Nala and Sabini went straight ahead to say something but got hold back by Tama who wanted to watch this in delight.

The ochre one stared at the golden male before her twisted his towards his pale orange friend. "Yep, definitely him!" Tojo said which caused Simba to frown.

Malka stepped forward as he glared deeply into Simbas eyes. "I should have known that they can't keep you down for good." He said in his typical sly tone.

Simba stared at him for a moment before his face lit up. "M-M-Malka?" He stuttered before he stormed over to the two males giving them a friendly hug. "Jo-jo! Malka, it's great to see you." He said full of joy before letting the rest of the pride go along and greet them. It took a long time for them to check, but they would have done it if it wouldn't have been for a little detail getting in the way.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" A female voice shrieked and ripped the pride out of their new found joy. As the turned their heads, they found Zira standing in one line alongside Nuka, Spotty and Dotty. Simba moved forward as he got a view of the tarnish lioness staring at the males with her yellow eyes. "Didn't Scar banished you just months ago? And who is this strange lion doing in the middle of our pride?"

Malka brought his muzzle to Tamas ear as he whispered. "Uhm… that's her first question? I mean… the fifty stories high fireball that once was called pride rock doesn't face her on bit?"

Zira didn't hear him and made another step closer towards Simba who stared at her with calm and neutral eyes. "As co-ruler of the pride lands, I demand you to answer." She called with a stern and charging voice while Nuka and the rest stayed in the back. Indeed, Zira had not noticed or even caught a glimpse of the fight that had happened earlier on.

With a quick glance to his mother, Simba tilted up his head as he positioned himself in front of his pride. "Scar is gone. He died in the fire moments ago." He said with a heavy tone. "The hyenas that didn't burn to death left pride rock after they got rid of him." He continued as he caught the surprise and shock that was building up on Ziras face.

_Scar is gone… no, NO! It can't be._ She thought before baring her teeth. "And who might you be?" She snapped.

Nala and Sarabi were about to run beside Simba but got held back by the male. He twisted his head and gave them a calming smile before facing Zira again. "I'm Simba! You remember my name right?" he didn't want to sound that cocky or arrogant but seeing as how Zira was showing no respect to them, he had no interest in showing any of his own.

The tarnish lionesses' eyes grew wide. "You're… you're dead. How… how did you…?" he gaze wandered at Nala who gave her a triumphant and mocking smile. "YOU!" She yelled and went for the cream lioness at an instant. She was to quick for any of the pride members to react until she was completely over Nala.

Yet the younger female was able to fight her of until Malka and Simba jumped in and blocked their paths. "Since you viciously attack a fellow pride member and your future queen…" Even though those were big words, nobody of the pride realized what Simba just said. "I guess that there's no place for you in this pride."

Zira growled at first but settled for a second as Scars word ran through her mind. _Always remember Zira, the pride lands are the most prestige way to live in the African savannah. There is no place more beautiful and precious then here. Don't ever get yourself driven away from this place._ HER king was right, there was nothing to win if that meant for her to leave the kingdom at once. For now, until she found a chance, she had to obey the new king. But how to pull it off? "Oh, you wouldn't let a lioness be out there all on her own when she was _expecting?"_ Zira didn't want to smile and kept her face straight.

For a moment, Simba did nothing but then narrowed his eyes. He was unable to tell if the lionesses word were true. If she was lying, she was really good at it. He quickly faced Rafiki who came down from the ledge and had watched the scene long enough. "Is it true?" He asked the mandrill who came to a halt in front of them.

"I'm afraid it is my king." He said but didn't fight back that he was a bit upset.

To the surprise of a lot of lionesses, Nala had kept pretty silent till now before she got closer to Simba. "She was the most loyal to Scar. It wouldn't surprise me if she was in the thing with you and your father." She said in a gentle but determined voice.

Simba faced her and lowered his voice into a whisper. "But she's pregnant Nala, I can't send her out there in this barren wasteland. She'll starve to death, I'm not going to start my time as king by sending a lioness to her certain death." He answered and gave her a quick nuzzle. Nala didn't argue further, maybe it was the best to let it rest for now. There would be enough chances to get back at Zira in the future. The golden furred male then raised his head as he looked around. "Alright! You're allowed to stay. I guess we better let it rest for the night. Malka and Tojo, are you staying with us for the night?"

Both males glanced at each other before Malka spoke up. "We would love to." He gave his friend an approving smile before giving Tojo a pad on his front leg. "But first we have to take care of something. We'll be back later on." He said as he led Tojo back away from pride rock.

Sarabi, Subira and Kimae faced their new king as his mother spoke up. "We have to take care of Himayas body. We'll come afterwards." The former queen said and the pride went their separate ways.

Moments later, there were only Simba, Nala and Tama left beside the ledge of pride rock on one side, and Zira together with Nuka and Spotty on the other. The tarnish lioness passed by Nala who as both shot each other an icy glare. "Do you feel lucky now? you have doomed this whole pride by dethroning Scar." Zira glared without letting Tama or Simba hear it.

"I saved the pride! And seeing as I'm going to be your leader in the future, you might want to change your attitude towards us." Nala answered with a growl before the tarnish lioness vanished into the direction of Scars den.

Tama gave Nala a supporting look as the two shared a smile before she faced Simba. "I guess I let you two alone for the moment." She said and padded off.

For a moment, neither of the two said anything while Simba glanced around once again uneasy. He could still see the burned down and black ground that surrounded pride rock. In the distance, the male could see the rain finally filling the waterholes again. Streams were getting rebuilt and the grey colour of the sky got a bit lighter. Yet, Simbas heart still felt a little heavy. As he watched over his kingdom, he still had to think about how he was going to reform the land which his father once brought to its heights. Well of course he needed help and his mind wandered off to Nala. _Thank the great kings she came and brought me back. _

Short after, he felt a movement to his left as Nala had settled down right beside him. "So… you've done it." She started giving him a supporting smile.

The golden furred lion eyed her warm. "No… _we've_ done it!"

Yet again, the cream female snuggled closer to him and gave him a nuzzle on the head before she backed off a few feet. Her face had a sly smirk on her and she eyed him slightly mocking. "What did I hear earlier? Since you viciously attack a fellow pride member and your _future queen…" _She started and gave him a sly smile while raising one of her eyebrows. "Did I hear a proposal there?"

Simba answered that with a confused face before returning the smile. "And what if it was one?" He countered standing up and looking at her with all the warmth in his eyes.

The cream lioness put her right front paw to her chin as she pondered. "I don't know uhm… maybe I would… _accept_ it." She answered giving away an innocent expression.

"Well in that case…" Simba went forward and threw her off her feet until she lay on her back with the male standing over her getting his muzzle closer to hers. "… it was one!" He giggled and the two started to nuzzle each other feeling masses of rocks falling off from their shoulders. Finally, everything was back in its place. And even though, the pride looked worst than ever before… the lions living there looked at a brighter future.

CONTINUED IN PART 2…

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><p><strong><span>Author's note and Trivia<span>**: And that's it for now. It had been a lot of fun up to this point. Up to this point, I have the first chapter of Part 2 written down on paper and will start finishing it after Feast of the Ascension on May 17th (long weekend and a small vacation). I just need some time to gather some thoughts and doing some research.

There were no special quotes or references included in this one (though the dialog between Simba and Scar at the end had some touch of all those cheesy 80's action movies where the hero makes the big stand at the end).

Once again… thanks a lot to all of you who have been reading and contacted me during the last months.

Schmidtinho


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